


Allergy Season

by WillowTea



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Anxiety, Keith is Shiro's half brother, M/M, Pidge skipped a grade, Pining Matt, Soccer AU, Tragic backstory Keith, lance is bi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-31
Updated: 2017-02-24
Packaged: 2018-09-13 19:24:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 62,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9137917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WillowTea/pseuds/WillowTea
Summary: Lance is determined to prove his worth against the ever threatening Galra Academy soccer team, one of the best in the nation. His biggest goal: take down Keith Kogane, his long time rival. His biggest problem: Voltron High has never had a good soccer team, not even after he joined.A year later, Lance is still determined that he’s going to take down Keith in the game that consumes his life. His biggest problem: Keith just transferred to Voltron High. Now he has to learn to work with him rather than against him.





	1. New Year

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. I don't know why I named it Allergy Season, it just seemed cute  
> 2\. What better way to start the new year than with a Klance fic?  
> 3\. I don't know why, but a soccer AU just sounded like so much fun  
> 4\. I don't know anything about soccer, so bear with my research  
> 5\. This chapter is busier than I intended. It was supposed to be two, but the first section was too short  
> 6\. Enjoy!

Blood, sweat, and tears.

That was what it took to make it in this cold, cruel world. The game was life and life was the game; nothing came close to replacing that. With each new step the players proceeded toward the end goal, fighting tooth and nail for the chance to win this game. The final game of the season. 

As the blue and purple uniforms crossed the field, players fell and others rose to the occasion. One such riser was none other than Lance McClain. His tall, built figure raced faster than anyone else as he approached the enemy team, the black mullet clearly in view from the distance he was at.

With a single, determined yell he launched himself forward toward the evil Keith Kogane, his biggest rival and the star of the enemy team. Both boys were skilled beyond their years, playing to the best of their ability in an all out battle. As the tall, handsome player launched himself full force at Kogane, he felt this was his shining moment. If he stopped this ball and passed it to another teammate, they would surely win this game.

“Goal!” The crowd on the right side of the field yelled this without any sense of empathy. Lance finally felt himself coming to when he heard his name called from before him. Opening his eyes slowly, he blinked back the tears that threatened to make their way into the bright glare of the field lights. 

“Lance! Dude, are you okay?” This came from the large, Samoan teen jogging toward him. Lance felt himself recall the past events with agonizingly slow recollection. 

He’d launched himself toward Keith to get the ball away, he was sure he was going to make it. The only problem: he never made it. Instead, he had slipped upon hitting the ground a good foot short of where the ball was. With the slick turf of the Galra Academy field beneath him, he had slid into an almost complete splits position and fallen flat on his back when his other leg came to join his first. So the answer was obvious.

“No, I am not okay! He got away again, Hunk! I almost had him!” Lance exclaimed dramatically, grabbing his buddies hand when it was offered to help him up. There were small black dots from the turf all over his jersey, but he couldn’t see them and he didn’t care. Galra Academy was another point up, putting them in the lead 5-0. It was humiliating! They did this every year to Voltron High and there seemed to be no stopping them.

“It’s cool, Lance. You’ll get him.” Hunk promised as he brushed his gloved hand off on his shorts. Despite having just been bested for the fifth time in the game, the top goalie of Voltron High didn’t seem phased in the slightest by the superior soccer skills of the opposing team. 

“You know what, Hunk? You’re right! I’ll get him this time! There are still-“ Lance began his self motivational speech but was quickly interrupted by his name being called from the sidelines.

“McClain! Earth to McClain! Time’s up! Get over here!” The coach, a rather attractive man in what must have been his early twenties, called from the sidelines. He had solid black hair and thin eyes that accented his high cheekbones. He was a strict man, but lead with such experience it didn’t bother Lance. He was an alumni of Voltron High and currently attended the Garrison University just down the road. The coaching gig was a part time thing, but he worked it well.

“Right! Sorry, coach!” Lance called, jogging toward his coach who nodded with approval. He was still a kind man at heart, and yelling at someone wasn’t something he usually did. But with Lance, one had to be harder. 

“Alright, Llwellyn, you’re back in. Make us proud.” Shiro instructed the smaller player as he raced passed Lance and back onto the field. It had only been a matter of time. Lance was back-up, he knew that. But this was what he got for being on both varsity and junior varsity. He was a starter on the JV team and was allowed to sit on the sidelines when varsity played. If they were in a taught spot, he was allowed to play.

Knowing Llewellyn’s habit of getting himself injured halfway through the game, Lance got to play more often than Shiro liked to admit.

“Now go sit down.” This was spoken a good minute after Llewellyn had retaken the field and play had already resumed. Lance nodded and took a seat on the bench next to the other players in similar positions to him. The only difference: they were actually varsity players that got rotated into the game periodically. The only reason they didn’t get played when Llewellyn got out was because Shiro didn’t want to waste their energy. They were more important players. 

Cursing under his breath, he watched his team throw yet another game against Galra Academy away as the stupid mullet man made goal after goal.

\---

Keith and Lance had been rivals for as long as Lance could remember. Ten years ago, it was, when they first met on the playing field. At age six, Lance had been on a club team after insisting with his parents that he was good enough to play soccer on a real field. They had played it all the time at home, but for the first time he felt worthy enough to play in a club. So they had allowed it.

His team was filled with kids just like him and a few who were only playing because their parents thought it would improve their confidence. That had been where he met Hunk. Even at six the Samoan kid was large than the rest of them and put on interim goalie whenever the coach would teach the kids how to play. Lance found it stupid that they needed to be taught, he already knew how to play. But, as per the rules of the club, every kid was taught how to play the game. In most games, coaches played as goalies, so a lot of the time Hunk was placed as a left or right back to intimidate other teams.

The first game was when Lance had met Keith. They were both strikers and so faced off before the game started. Keith didn’t look very sure of himself and Lance felt himself brimming with confidence.

“You are so going down!” He had said this before the game started and Keith had looked up, a wary look on his face as he rubbed his right arm as if it itched. Looking back down at the ground he shrugged. Lance scoffed at his indifference. This wasn’t going to be any fun if his opponent didn’t care.

“You’re not going to win! Get it? I’m going to stop you!” Lance had insulted him, or attempted to, before the game started. Keith continued to show indifference toward Lance’s threats and had, in the end, won the game. He had ended up making more goals than Lance had ever dreamed he could make. After high fiving the entire team, Lance approached Keith to shake hands, like he had seen his dad do.

“Good game, but you are definitely not winning the next one.” He had informed Keith of this most of the game, but this time he was definitely not going to let Keith get away with being indifferent.

“Ah, uh, okay.” Keith had muttered, looking Lance in the eyes rather quickly before looking away and loosely shaking his hand. Lance had fumed for days over this and only stopped when his dad promised him that they would practice together outside of club activities.

Naturally, it was another year before Lance and Keith met again. This time Lance was a forward and not a striker, but Keith remained where he had been the previous year. He seemed less indifferent, but still not as involved. When Lance shouted threats and taunts at him, Keith didn’t even turn his head to look. This had infuriated Lance even more. 

Once again, they lost.

This happened every single year until his club kicked him out because of the age limit. When he finally entered middle school, soccer was merely an intramural after school activity. Their coach was nice enough to allow the boys to compete against other schools clubs to give them something to look forward to. It was at this point that Hunk began to play as the true goalie and earned praise from many coaches for his skills.

Once again, Keith and Lance faced off. 

It was at this point that Lance began to notice Keith’s indifference toward everyone, not just himself. The game appeared to be just a habit that he couldn’t break and he only participated to relieve himself of some kind of stress. 

Lance continued to fume over this.

“Hey! Look at me when I’m insulting you!” Lance would yell over and over again after Keith would continue to look away or just not seem interested. He was no longer the shy, nervous seven year-old boy but the indifferent, uncaring preteen. Lance couldn’t get over this.

“One day, Hunk! One day I will take him down!” Lance would rant for hours to Hunk about Keith and his stupid mullet. Being the great best friend that he was, Hunk would listen and agree and encourage. It became common for Hunk to ask analytical, life questions about Keith to Lance. What was his home like? Why did he seem to not care when he had been participating for so long? Why did he play at all? Every time, Lance’s response was the same:

“I don’t care! I’m just going to take him down!”

When they reached high school soccer became an official school sport. Lance was placed immediately on the JV team as a freshman. Despite his obvious skill, he was forced to play as a second to the other players on the team. Luckily, so was Keith when he reached Galra Academy. They still played each other in games, but Keith still ignored Lance.

And that was where their story ended. Lance continued to compete with Keith who continued to ignore him. Keith had made his school’s varsity team by his sophomore year while Lance continued to top JV and only barely play some in varsity games. It was enough, though, but it still angered him. 

Sitting on the sidelines, watching that stupid mullet score goal after goal, it was infuriating. The most he could do was encourage Hunk to block every goal he made. Sadly, that wasn’t what happened.

In the last game of the season, Voltron High lost to Galra Academy for the billionth time since the schools had competed. 

For what felt like the billionth time, the teams high fived and Lance trotted off to face Keith one-on-one. 

“Hey, good game. But you’re going down next time.” Lance threatened again, this time Keith shook his hand weakly and nodded, humming a small note of acknowledgement. With that, he was gone, and Lance was left fuming on the field as the teams walked in opposite directions. 

“Lance, come on. The bus will leave without you if you stay here.” It was Hunk, a hand on Lance’s shoulder, trying to get his attention. With a defeated sigh, Lance nodded.

“Fine, but he’s definitely going to get it next year.” As usual, Hunk nodded in encouragement as they turned toward the bus lot and joined the rest of their team in pitiful defeat.

\---

“Hunk, I can feel it!” Lance exclaimed dramatically, twirling in place and throwing his hands in the air. The late summer sun beat down on the pair as they approached the front entrance to Voltron High. 

“Feel what? If it’s the heat, then I can too.” Hunk responded with a clearly annoyed air to his voice. Despite his background, Hunk was not keen on the sun. His large stature and dark skin soaked in sun like a plant that had never seen it before. Lance laughed and slapped his friend on the back. Despite his skin also being tanner than most, his thinner figure allowed for his body to properly balance the heat he gave off when exerting himself on the walk to school.

“No! We’re going to win against Galra Academy this year, I can tell!” Lance shouted, a few underclassmen giving him funny looks. As a junior, he felt more confidence than ever. He could only imagine how much confidence he would have in himself as a senior!

“Right.” Hunk responded, his clear indifference on the subject hidden from Lance due to the other boys extreme enthusiasm. “Well, the first game is in a couple of weeks, but it’s not against Galra, so you’re going to have to wait.” Hunk pointing this out put a slight damper on Lance’s mood, but he knew he was going to do it. Practices had begun a few weeks into the end of summer so they could prepare for the quick start.

Both Lance and Hunk had been placed on Varsity this year, so it was safe to assume Lance was good enough to take down Keith Kogane once and for all. The confidence he felt in himself was at an all time high and there was no bringing it down.

And then first period rolled around.

Lance wasn’t bad at math, he was actually better than most thought he was. He passed, most of the time with a B, sometimes with an A. So really, math first period wasn’t a problem at all. Only, there was one difference from the previous years:

Keith Kogane sat right in front of him.

Lance stared, open mouthed, as the tall, slender teen walked into the room. His head was down, and his eyes didn’t scan or search faces, but Lance would recognize that mullet anywhere. As he slid into the seat right in front of Lance, the Cuban boy felt ready to strangle him. His neck was so close, if he only just leaned forward….

“Alright, class. Let’s get started.” The teacher had suddenly appeared at the front of the room and Lance was forced to focus his attention on something other than the thick head of hair sitting before him. The shoulders were familiar enough as well, considering Lance only ever saw Keith from behind. This thought only served to further infuriate him.

He barely made it through class without blowing his top. When the bell finally rang, Lance rushed to put his things away and pushed through the crowd of students – all who shouted nasty words his direction – just to get to Keith. Once he was within reaching distance he grabbed the other boy’s arm and turned him around. 

Staring him dead in the face were the most beautiful eyes Lance had ever seen.

Frozen in place, eyes fixated on the very appearance of a grown up Keith Kogane, Lance forgot what he had been doing in the first place. It wasn’t until he saw Keith’s mouth move that sound and time finally began to come streaming back.

“What’s the big idea? I’m trying to get to class.” Keith yanked his arm from Lance’s grasp, but didn’t turn around to head toward the class he was talking about. Instead he stood and waited for Lance to speak. 

Which took a little while longer.

“You-I-you’re Keith Kogane.” Lance stuttered out, clearly looking the fool in front of his biggest rival. No duh, he was Keith Kogane. Everyone who knew anyone knew who he was. He was the biggest soccer star at Galra Academy. Wait a second, at Galra Academy!

“What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be at GA! I’m supposed to take you down this year!” Lance exclaimed, his dramatic side finding itself in this conversation. Keith’s gaze turned from one of anger to one of confusion. 

“Uh, I transferred schools. What do you mean you’re supposed to be taking me down?” Keith asked, his beautiful eyes creasing at the corners to emphasize his confusion. Lance stuttered on, his breath being taken away by this beauty.

“I-wha-you’re my biggest rival! We’ve been going at it since we were six!” Lance exclaimed, realizing suddenly that the hallways were thinning out. Who cared if he was late on the first day, he was going to get some answers from this guy.

“Biggest rival? I haven’t seen you before in my life.” Keith continued to look confused and at the last words, Lance froze. Hadn’t seen him before? What did he mean? They had been duking it out since they were six and in silly kids’ clubs. Keith had been his biggest rival for years and suddenly, he forgot who Lance was?!

When Lance finally came to himself to retort back at Keith, he was completely alone and the late bell was going off. Cursing under his breath he took off at a full run to apologize to his second period teacher. What a great start to the new school year.

\---

“I’m telling you, Hunk, it was definitely him!” Lance exclaimed as they pushed their way through the lunch line. The large crowd of students was making it hard to rant dramatically to his best friend, but only Lance McClain could get away with large hand movements in the middle of a hangry crowd..

“I never said I didn’t believe you, I just said it was hard to believe that he would transfer schools.” Hunk responded as the line moved forward a small bit. Lance flung his arms out in a big, dramatic show of exasperation. 

“I know, right? We were supposed to be enemies until the bitter end! I had dreams of fighting him in the big leagues!” Lance responded and Hunk shook his head, his face remaining calm as he responded.

“No, I mean, he had a good life at Galra. He was on varsity as a sophomore and was probably promised a spot for the next two years, he had top grades, and I even heard he had several girls lined up for him.” Hunk responded and Lance made a face. It was the ‘Hunk what the heck’ face that Hunk knew oh so well. “I did some research.” He retorted and when Lance didn’t stop looking at him like that, he waved a hand. “Stop looking at me like that. He was popular, he was good, he was smart, and he had everything. So why would he transfer schools?” 

Lance was fuming over the same question when he heard a small voice come from somewhere behind him. Someone ahead of them in the line was trying to get their attention, but they were having a hard time doing it through the large throng of bodies far larger than their own. Reaching a hand forward, Hunk grabbed onto their shoulder and tugged them closer.

“Thank you.” Came the slightly cocky sounding response, despite the simple and humble phrase they had spoken. The small person brushed off their clothes as if they had just been rolling in the dirt and then turned to look up at the two of them, pushing their glasses further up their nose. “Pidge Holt. I know a bit about Keith Kogane, if you need answers that badly.” The kid stuck out a hand professionally after finishing their introduction.

“Heya, Pidge. I’m Hunk Garett. It’s nice to meet you.” Hunk responded, shaking the hand of the small person before him. When this had finished, Pidge turned toward Lance, who took their hand hesitantly.

“Uh, Lance McClain. Are you a guy or a girl?” Lance asked and Pidge stuck up their nose indignantly. 

“Does it really matter?” They asked and Lance considered this seriously as the line moved further up.

“I guess it doesn’t.” Lance responded as their hands dropped and Pidge gave him a satisfied nod. “Now, what do you know about Keith?” This drew Lance’s attention more than anything about the small person calling themselves Pidge. 

“I don’t know, Lance. This seems a little silly. Can’t we just ask him?” Hunk inquired as Lance waited for Pidge to give him something good. “Not that I don’t trust Pidge, it’s just a bit childish.” Hunk added on, trying to cover for possibly insulting Pidge.

“Please, Keith owes me for a lot of things, I’ll just take this out of his balance.” Pidge responded before Lance could say anything. Both Lance and Hunk took on confused looks and Pidge laughed.

“Keith and I have been friends for ages. Our older brothers have been best friends since middle school, so we’ve known each other for a really long time.” Pidge added with a wave of their hand to show how this didn’t bother them in the slightest.

“See, Hunk! Pidge doesn’t have a problem with it, I don’t have a problem with it!” Lance gestured toward Pidge with both his hands to accent his point. Hunk simply rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. With this, and the line moving up just a tad bit more, Pidge began.

“Keith has been in foster care since he was eight. Shiro, his older brother, is his half brother on his mom’s side. She remarried and had Keith when Shiro was five. When Keith was two, his dad died in a car accident and when he turned eight, their mom died of cancer. Shiro got out of foster care when he was eighteen and hasn’t looked back. But, since Keith is still under age, he’s still in foster care. Shiro turned twenty-one a week ago and adopted Keith as a birthday present for himself. Shiro lives in Voltron High boundaries, so Keith had to transfer.” Pidge finished with a flourish. The expression on Hunk’s face was one of shock and slight sadness, but Lance was unreadable. 

“Wait, that meant his mom was dying the second year we went against his soccer club team when we were seven.” Hunk pointed out and Pidge nodded. That explained why he seemed to have already distanced himself from the game. That meant their third game was when Keith was officially separated from all family he had. Hunk looked down at the ground and felt his heart sink. He had never been as infuriated by Keith’s indifference as Lance had, but he suddenly felt bad for ever thinking it annoying.

“So? That doesn’t mean he has the right to be so obtuse.” Lance stated, his face turned away from both people standing in line with him. Hunk’s brow knit slightly and Pidge took up a defensive stance.

“It sure does! Keith’s had a rough eight years and he’s finally allowed to be at piece for the rest of his life.” Pidge retorted and Lance visibly huffed. Pidge rolled up a sleeve as if ready to fight Lance, but Hunk held them back.

“Don’t. He’ll get it eventually.” Hunk muttered as Pidge looked up at him incredulously. This made Pidge huff, but they dropped it and made it through the line without any more issues. Lance ranted more and more about Keith being a jerk as they ate, Pidge having joined them for whatever reason.

For the first time in his life, Hunk didn’t pretend to listen to Lance’s rants, but instead listened to Pidge’s. Their conversation was actually a conversation and about smart people things Lance would never get. After a good five minutes, Lance finally realized he was being ignored. 

“I guess everything changes this year.” Lance muttered under his breath, feeling like he had been stabbed in the back by his own best friend. He ate the rest of his lunch in complete silence and, for the first time in his life, felt left out. 

\---

“At least soccer is still our thing!” Lance exclaimed as he raced Hunk toward the locker rooms to change for practice. It was the first official practice of the school year and he was looking forward to spending some time with his friend.

“Lance, slow down! I can’t run that fast!” Hunk called from behind. Considering he was a goalie who never moved and Lance was a forward whose only job was to move, it was almost impossible for Hunk to keep up with the speedy Cuban.

As he raced down the concrete stairs to the locker room, Lance breathed in the scent of sweat and hard work. When his teammates spotted him, they shouted greetings and slapped him on the back. He felt at home in the locker room, even if the place was definitely nothing like home. He just felt welcome.

“Alright boys, who’s ready to take on Galra this year?” Lance called and the entire team shouted in agreement at him. He may have not been the team captain, but Lance felt so in charge when he riled up the entire team at once. Right as the screams were dying down, Hunk finally made his way into the locker room where he joined Lance at his locker. They had been locker buddies since lockers had been a thing, so it was only natural it be that way again this year.

“Coach is in the house!” Someone shouted from the front of the room and the entire team began chanting ‘coach’ at the top of their lungs. Lance joined in and ducked his head around the corner of the lockers to see coach Shiro come into the locker room, waving his hands at the boys to get them to stop. When they finally stopped shouting he called out to them.

“How’s everyone today?” This was met with a huge roar that he had to, once again, wait for before he could speak again. This time he waved them into a huddle and they all gathered in a cramped semi circle between the wall hiding the showers and the lockers for the sports teams. 

“Alright boys, this is going to be a great year. We’ve got some great players on the team this time around and some fresh blood joining us that I know is sure to help us out.” Shiro said, waving his hand behind the lockers that blocked someone from view. 

Lance felt his heart drop. He had wondered why the name Shiro had sounded familiar in Pidge’s story, but a part of him hoped whoever it was coach was introducing was not who he thought it was. 

Alas, he was dead wrong.

“Team, meet my baby brother. Keith, say hi to your new team.” 

And Lance felt his world end.


	2. Bright Eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance is angry. Keith is confused. And Shiro is dense. Oh what fun!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I practically wrote this chapter aloud...to myself...in an empty house....I need less free time.

“You have got to be kidding me!” Lance exclaimed, yanking his cleats on over his socks, tying them angrily as if he had a personal vendetta against them. Hunk watched him throw this fit without concern, knowing it would blow over eventually. It would definitely take longer to blow over than most Lance fits, but it would blow over.

“You have got to be freaking kidding me!” He shouted again. Most of the team was ignoring him, like Hunk was. They were used to Lance periodically shouting nonsense they didn’t get. However, this was something they all recognized. A small group of freshmen on the JV team watched him, wondering silently if they should say something. The tallest of the bunch had bright orange hair and freckles that rivaled the number of stars in the sky. He turned periodically to his two friends, gesturing wildly at Lance and whispering loud enough Lance would have heard if he wasn’t fuming.

“Do you think he’s okay?” He whispered loudly, his blonde buddy – almost the same height as Pidge – shrugged lazily, not seeming to care. As he pushed his glasses up his nose, the Asian boy whispered something back, but this couldn’t be heard over the sound of Lance protesting loudly. 

Just watching them Hunk knew that the red head was going to be very similar to Lance as he got older. Hopefully his friends knew how to handle him, because sometimes even Lance could be a handful. 

Angrily Lance re-tucked in his shirt. It had come un-tucked in the back when he had angrily leaned over the second time to tie his other shoe. He stormed out of the locker room, followed closely by Hunk. The Samoan teen waved at the freshmen and assured them that he was fine and that he was just blowing steam as he passed them. They didn’t really appear to believe him, but that was their choice.

As they exited the locker room, the stepped out into the late summer air, the heat dropping heavily on top of them. Lance didn’t seem to mind it at all, but Hunk began to sweat halfway to the field. 

“What was Shiro thinking, letting him join the team? He’s the enemy! You can’t let the enemy join your team!” Lance was fuming ahead of Hunk, his arms flailing dramatically at his sides to emphasize every point he made.

“Lance, Keith’s one of the best in the state. Shiro’s not being biased by letting his brother join the team without warning.” Hunk pointed out, trying to jog slightly to keep up with Lance’s angry pace. He was fast walking at a pace Hunk could only jog, and the effort Hunk had to put forth was a little too much for him in the heat.

“And he had the nerve to say he didn’t recognize me!” Lance continued as if Hunk had never said a word, his blue eyes flaring with anger when Hunk finally managed to come up beside him. “We’ve been rivals since we were six! Six!” He exclaimed, throwing his arms out as if this should have been obvious to everyone who knew him. Which it was. Because it was all Lance ever talked about.

“Lance, Pidge said Keith’s been through a lot lately, cut him some slack. Remembering something from when he was six isn’t at the top of his priorities list.” Hunk responded, hoping maybe Lance would hear him this time. He did. Which wasn’t necessarily a good thing, because Lance got even angrier. 

“So!? So what if he’s been through a lot? Plus, we’ve been rivals once a year for eleven years! How could he possibly forget me!?” Lance practically screamed as they reached the soccer field, which doubled as the school’s football field. It was long and filled with real grass, something the school had yet to replace. When the rainy season hit, practice was never fun. Luckily, there were still several weeks before that.

“Lance, how would you react if you lost both your mom and dad and had to wait eight years before your oldest sibling could adopt you?” Hunk asked, trying to get Lance to see Keith’s side of all of this. Lance only scoffed, his face taking on a look of incredulousness.

“I wouldn’t have to wait five seconds before my oldest sibling could adopt me.” And the point shot right over his head. Despite how right Lance was – his oldest sister was fourteen years older than him – he had completely missed the point of Hunk’s question. And to top it off, the fuming Cuban had spotted Keith preparing for drills.

“Hey! Mullet!” He shouted toward Keith, who didn’t move when Lance called out the back nickname he had made up for Keith. It wasn’t entirely creative nor was it really an insult. Keith apparently really liked his hair. “Look at me when I call to you!” Lance was now coming right up to Keith and Hunk had to jog to get to him before he did anything stupid.

When Lance finally reached Keith, the Asian teen turned his head in confusion, his eyes widening in an instant when he saw Lance.

“Oh, it’s you.” He said, his voice not sounding nearly as surprised as his face made him out to be. For a moment, Lance didn’t say anything and Hunk had to look over to make sure he was still functioning. There was a split second before Lance finally responded and when Hunk looked at him that Hunk could have sworn he saw the lovesick middle school girl that lived inside of his best friend.

“’Oh, it’s you’? What the heck is that supposed to mean?!” Lance exclaimed and Keith flinched slightly at the loud nature of the taller boy before him. He clearly didn’t seem to understand why Lance was so angry, but it appeared it was starting to annoy him.

“Well, you confronted me earlier today after math. Are you still going on about that whole ‘rival’ thing?” Keith asked and Hunk tensed, knowing what was coming. Lance was ready to pounce on Keith with the full force of his angry Spanish ancestors. Somehow, Lance managed to keep it locked up for a little while longer, because he didn’t throw a punch.

“You say rivals as if it was never a thing.” Lance growled, crossing his arms over his chest like a pouting child. That was basically what he was. This made Hunk feeling like a father, afraid to stop Lance but worried Lance might start something if Hunk didn’t say anything.

“’Cause it wasn’t. Why do you keep insisting it was?” Keith asked, his voice rather level for someone who looked as annoyed as he did. Hunk watched, wary of how this was going to turn out, but glad that no one was getting hurt yet.

“Because it was! We were six! Our club soccer teams competed together! We faced off at the start of the game and I said ‘you are so going down’! After the game I shook your hand and told you good game, but that I would take you down next time. Is none of this ringing a bell?” Lance asked, finishing his rant sooner than he would have if it hadn’t been for the fact that Keith’s eyes had spaced out over Lance’s shoulder.

For a moment the Asian boy didn’t respond, just stood there, arms crossed over his broad chest, eyes focused on nothing in particular. Lance continued to fume over the whole situation, his anger reaching further and further up before Keith finally responded.

“Oh! Yes! I do! I remember hating having to play a game my family had forced me to play and the fact that some stupid kid wanted to challenge me was annoying. Gosh, you haven’t changed.” Keith exclaimed when he finally recalled. For the first half of his explanation, Lance finally looked relieved, but this dropped when Keith added on how dumb Lance had been. Keith gave Lance a once over at the end of his recollection and Lance huffed.

“Of course I haven’t changed! I’ve dedicated my life to destroying you and then you have the gall to transfer to my school!?” Lance exclaimed and Keith sneered, clearly offended by Lance’s statement. Hunk felt his nerves shoot up as he saw the fire in the eyes of both of them.

“Lance, remember what I said? He’s been through a lot. Now’s not the time for this.” Hunk whispered into Lance’s ear, making sure he was too quiet and that Keith didn’t hear what he said. Luckily, Keith didn’t. Sadly, Lance was still angry.

“I don’t care what he’s been through! He’s acting like a jerk!” Lance shouted and Keith’s face took on a look of surprise. All at once five million different things started happening and it wasn’t until the aftermath that Hunk could recall any of it. 

“What do you mean what I’ve been through?” Keith asked, his tone of voice angry and ready for a fight. Hunk flinched, despite being far larger than Keith, he really didn’t want a fight. Lance continued to shout insults and nasty words in Keith’s face while Keith shot nasty looks between him and Hunk.

“Pidge told us everything.” Hunk responded, trying to be heard over the sound of Lance’s insults and attitude. Keith’s eyes flared with more anger than they had before. Hunk felt himself shying away from the situation as more and more teammates gathered to watch. Hunk silently prayed for Shiro to show up soon, or else something was going to go down.

“That little-Ugh, will you shut up!” Keith shouted, finally turning his attention to Lance again. Apparently, Lance had enough of Keith for whatever reason and was advancing on him. The gap between their faces wasn’t much bigger than the thickness of a penny and Hunk could have sworn that if they got any closer, they would be kissing.

“What did you say, mulletman!?” Lance shouted, his insults dying down in originality once he was finally addressing Keith directly. The fire in both of their eyes was burning bright enough it might as well have been physical. 

“I said shut up! You’re being really loud and obnoxious and I’m trying to have a conversation!” Keith exclaimed angrily, his yelling not so much of a shout but more like an angry hiss. Lance scowled and scoffed, at a loss for words for a few seconds before he finally came up with something to say.

“I was still talking to you!” Lance growled, drawing as close to Keith as he could. It was interesting to see, since the two were extremely similar in size, the biggest difference being Lance’s inch on Keith and the different in his width. They were both built to be fast, but Lance was built to block hard as well. 

“Yeah, well I was done listening to your crap!” Keith shouted, obviously refraining from using a better word than crap. Hunk wondered why this was as Lance wound up even more over Keith’s pure intent to kill. The two were so close Hunk was having trouble seeing them properly and they both looked ready to throw a punch at the others face and have a real brawl when an angel descended between them.

“Enough!” The shout was louder than anything Lance could ever produce and every team member jumped, not having noticed the arrival of their coach on the scene. Shiro looked pissed beyond belief, his eyes throwing fire in every direction as he pushed Lance and Keith apart by their chests.

Hunk took a step back, glad to not have to worry about stopping them. Not that he had done a very good job in the first place.

“What the heck is going on here?” Shiro demanded, crossing his arms as Keith and Lance backed away from each other angrily. Lance’s arms had flown out to either side of himself, like a strange bird. Keith looked ready to sulk in a corner, but remained level headed, though his fists were still tensed.

“This jerk was-“ Lance started, ready to rat out on Keith but was quickly interrupted by Keith who started to tell Shiro how Lance had practically attacked him but Shiro cut Keith off while Lance was opening his mouth to protest.

“I want a non-biased report.” Shiro demanded, turning toward Hunk as he said this. The large Samoan junior pointed to himself in surprise, shocked to be the voice of reason in all of this. “Hunk, I imagine you saw it all.” 

Shiro had known Hunk for two years, he had been goalie for the varsity team both his freshmen and sophomore year because he was the best of the boys that tried out both times. Granted, no one tried out his freshmen year and he had gotten the job automatically for both teams. He had been told that there was no need for him to try out his junior year and that he was promised the spot his senior year, if he so wished it.

Shiro had known that Lance and Hunk were best friends for the same amount of time. His acute observational skills had allowed him to notice that Hunk knew Lance like the back of his hand and that the two were stuck together at the hip. So automatically, he knew Hunk had seen everything. 

So Hunk relayed everything exactly as he had seen it as Shiro stood between Lance and Keith, making sure they didn’t get anywhere near each other. Nodding periodically, he acknowledged the fact that he understood what Hunk was saying. The rest of the team listened in just for a recount of the events they had seen.

“Alright. Ten laps. Both of you. Around this field. No practice until you’re done! Hunk, keep track.” Shiro instructed, indicating both Keith and Lance as he said it. Hunk nodded in understanding, knowing Shiro wasn’t punishing him for anything. He had a lot of practice for a goalie of his age, so it was a good opportunity for the freshmen goalie to get some practice in.

So for the next several minutes, Hunk sat and watched Keith and Lance exhaust each other while attempting to race through their laps. 

They were both hopeless. 

\---

The sun was starting to go down when Shiro finally called it a day and the team raced into the locker room to get changed. Lance was still fuming, from what Keith could see, but there was that Hunk guy there to talk him through it. Meanwhile, Keith changed while attempting to ignore the freshmen ogling him from the corner. They were getting a bit annoying.

While Keith was packing his duffle he heard the sound of running water and realized someone had started the showers on the other side of the tile wall. Confused, he made his way over to Shiro, who stood near the office, watching the boys change.

“You guys use the showers?” Keith asked, and Shiro turned to look at him as his brother joined him by his side. Shiro nodded when he registered what Keith had asked and then turned back to the rest of the locker room to make sure no one did anything too stupid.

“Yep. Some of the boys prefer getting it over with here rather than going home to do it. As long as they don’t mind, I don’t mind letting them. Though the one rule is to not keep me longer than necessary. I still have homework to do.” Shiro responded, chuckling slightly as he said it. One of the boys Shiro spoke of was Lance, who came strutting from the showers only moments after the water had been turned on. 

From the speed of it, he had merely run the water over his body to wash off the sweat, but the water still trickled from his hair and down his neck and shoulders. Keith became instantly hypnotized by the size of his pecks and the solid looking pack of abs he had. Time seemed to slow down a bit as Lance lifted the towel around his neck to wipe the water from his face and scruff up his hair. As he turned to talk to Hunk Keith drooled over his shoulder blades and the pure muscle that rippled across his back. 

Goodness he was hot.

“Keith! Earth to Keith! You still in there?” Keith was snapped out of his trance by a hand waving across his face. Jumping he turned to find a very concerned looking older brother looking him over. 

“Um, yeah. Sorry.” Keith muttered, feeling himself heat up over what has just happened. Crap, what if Shiro had noticed? His older brother was known for his skill in sensing and seeing the smallest of details. If Shiro noticed him staring at Lance, he wouldn’t ever live it down.

“You okay?” Shiro asked, his face still searching Keith’s as if looking for something that could give him a hint as to why his younger brother had suddenly spaced out. Keith nodded.

“Yeah, I’m good. Just a little tired.” Keith responded, hoping Shiro would fall for the old ‘I’m tired’ trick. In the past he had seen right through it, calling Keith out for being upset over test scores, angry over bullies, or just plain feeling lonely. But apparently, Shiro was dense when it came to attraction.

“Then we should get home.” Shiro responded, turning to the boys and telling them to finish it up so they could go home and finish homework. Keith watched his brother act as coach with awe and surprise. How could his brother have completely missed that? It wasn’t that Keith was complaining, he was just really surprised.

Soon enough, the boys had all packed it up and Shiro was locking up the locker room and walking with Keith out to the parking lot where he had left his car. As they climbed inside, Shiro turned the key and started to back out.

“So, how was the first day of school?” He asked, and Keith shrugged. He had gotten used to Shiro acting like a parent, it was comforting to know he still had family who cared about him, even if he was just as much of a pest as any other older brother.

“It was good. I made it through it. Although, that Lance guy cornered me after math.” Keith responded, recalling the way Lance had seemed to freeze in place when Keith had been flung around. It was almost as if time had stopped for the dark skinned teen. His eyes had taken on some kind of sparkle. It had taken enough of Keith’s willpower not to freak out over the super attractive guy grabbing his arm.

Then he had insisted they were rivals.

“Really? Why’s that?” Shiro asked, turning a corner while trying to glance at Keith, a concerned look on his face. Lance’s actions had confused Keith at first, but now he at least knew Lance hadn’t been making it up. But why did it mean so much to him?

“He insisted we were rivals and that I was supposed to stay at Galra.” Keith answered, his gaze finding its way out the window and toward the passing houses. They were in a fairly nice neighborhood, passing by large houses only a well off family could own.

“Haha! I wondered why Lance always got so riled up when we played you guys.” Shiro exclaimed with a laugh, making Keith jump and turn toward him. Keith knew he had played Voltron when he was still at Galra, but he had been unaware he had played against Lance.

“What’s his deal, anyway?” Keith asked, hoping it was safe to ask something like that of Shiro. For a moment, Shiro only smiled out the windshield, clearly thoughtful about how to answer. After a moment they turned down the street toward Shiro’s apartment complex, sitting behind the nice houses in a trashy kind of neighborhood.

“Lance is a really great guy, trust me. He’s a team player, but he just gets overly motivated by certain things. Most of the time it doesn’t do anyone harm.” Shiro finally responded as they turned into the parking lot of the apartment buildings. Their apartment wasn’t very far from the entrance and they were parked before long.

“Hmm. I doubt I’ll ever see ‘team player’ Lance. He seems to have it out for me.” Keith muttered as he grabbed his bags and followed Shiro up the stairs to their third floor apartment. Keith had only been there a week and he still wasn’t entirely used to it. It felt like he was intruding on Shiro and Matt. They had been roommates since they had started college and suddenly, Shiro adopted Keith.

“I’m sure he’ll get over it. He has to, or else I’ll kick him off the team.” Shiro said with a laugh, but Keith could tell he was being very serious about it. Despite it being a part time thing and mostly for the fun of it, Shiro took coaching the Voltron High soccer team very seriously.

The two walked into the apartment to the warm smell of food cooking.

“I’m home!” Shiro called, something Keith had noticed he always did when coming back after Matt. It was almost as if he had a mom and a dad. 

“Welcome home! Dinner will be ready in half an hour.” Matt yelled down the hallway and there was some muttering, a loud thud, and Pidge complaining about something hurting. Shiro and Keith made their way into the kitchen to find Pidge sitting at the dining table and Matt wearing a silly looking apron while holding a ladle. 

“Shiro, your wife prepared you some soup.” Pidge teased, their face clearly taking on an expression of sugary sweetness. This earned them another smack from the ladle, which hadn’t been used in the soup, from what Keith could tell.

“Thanks, Matt. It means a lot to me.” Shiro said, patting his roommate on the shoulder before heading down the hallway to his bedroom. Keith swore he could visibly see Matt’s heart skip a beat.

“Oh my gosh, he is so stupid.” Keith whispered, taking a seat across from Pidge as the younger teen snickered. They had been playing this game since they first realized Matt had a crush on Shiro. It hadn’t been too hard to pick out. The older Holt always seemed to be staring at Shiro as if he was the most wonderful thing since sliced bread. And the way his cheeks flushed with Shiro complimented him! Oh, he would swoon and die if he didn’t still have some dignity left.

“He’s not stupid. He’s just dense.” Matt defended, giving Pidge a small knock on the head with the ladle before wiping it down with a cloth and sticking it into the soup. Pidge muttered something inaudible under their breath and then gestured toward Keith’s room with their thumb. The two stood from the table and closed the door behind them when they entered.

“I think I might actually die watching Matt much longer.” Pidge grumbled as they invited themselves onto Keith’s bed. Dropping his bags onto his floor, Keith took a seat at his desk and nodded.

“Shiro is so dense.” Keith agreed. It had been a few years since Matt had first developed the crush. Keith and Pidge had noticed only a couple of weeks later, but Shiro was still oblivious to everything Matt did for him. 

It was agonizingly painful.

\---

As the light faded, Lance and Hunk walked home along faintly lit streets and through messy neighborhoods. Their houses were right next door and not very far from the school, so they were fine with not paying for a parking spot and leaving out the hassle of trying to find one every day. As they walked, Lance continued to speak.

“The nerve of that guy! Calling in his brother to protect him.” Lance was still fuming over Keith and the interaction they had had earlier that day. It was clearly still annoying him, but Hunk was far from over the whole thing. After having told Shiro a version of the story he hoped counted as non-biased, Hunk had stopped worrying about it.

“Lance, dude, Shiro’s our coach. His job is keep the team from fighting.” Hunk responded, finding it incredible that Lance’s hatred for Keith was blinding him to the real reasons for certain things. Lance continued to fume as they walked and, for a moment, Hunk tuned him out. He recalled the whole day, thinking heavily on what Pidge had said about Keith’s life up until now. Maybe it could get better, if only Lance would stop being an idiot.

As Lance crossed Hunk’s mind, the large teen recalled the expression he had seen on his friend’s face when he had first approached Keith. It may have been really fast and hard to catch, but Lance looked like a puppy in love.

“Hunk! Are you even listening to me?” Right now, Lance just sounded like Hunk’s angry, diva girlfriend. Hunk sighed and turned toward Lance, clearly done with him but trying his best not to appear like it was annoying him. 

“Yes, Lance. A thought just occurred to me, that’s all.” Hunk responded, getting a good glare from Lance. Earlier they had had some kind of sparkle, like Lance had been hit in the face with a glitter bomb. Invisible roses had bloomed beside his face and Hunk felt as if he could see right into Lance’s imagination. 

“Oh? And what thought is more important than me?” Lance demanded, crossing his arms angrily and attempting to not trip over a bush as he did so. He was such a dork, sometimes Hunk wasn’t sure how they had managed to become friends.

“I don’t know.” Hunk muttered, not sure if he wanted to bring it up. He knew there were easily two different results from telling Lance what he had seen and what he had thought. The first would be to further infuriate Lance, which was not the result he wanted. The second would be to shut him up completely. That was preferable, but not as likely.

“Tell me, Hunk. I’m just dying to know.” Lance dripped sarcasm and Hunk decided he might as well. If he further infuriated Lance, oh well, he could handle him. But the idea of maybe, just maybe, shutting him up was too tempting.

“When you approached Keith earlier, you know, to confront him. You looked almost…star struck.” Hunk started, and he almost felt Lance being thrown off a beat. Turning to glance at Lance as quickly as he could manage without being noticed, the taller teen noticed a slight pink tone on Lance’s cheeks. Maybe he was seeing things in the fading light, but Lance appeared to be blushing.

“Maybe you were seeing things.” Lance muttered as they turned the final corner toward their houses. His attempts to be angry sounding as he said this were mediocre at best and Hunk could tell he was going to get the result he wanted. Part of him felt bad all of a sudden, making Lance uncomfortable was never his goal. But he was too far ahead to stop.

“Do you like Keith, Lance?” Hunk finally asked and Lance exploded in ‘pssh’s and ‘pfft’s. Hunk took a sidestep away from him to avoid being overtaken by the amount of spit being shot from Lance’s mouth. 

“Of course not! He’s a jerk, is completely indifferent toward me, and that stupid mullet!” Lance exclaimed, waving his arms around like a maniac. Okay, so the plan had backfired and Lance was now angrier than ever. But Hunk wasn’t done.

“Then why did you look at him like that?” Hunk asked and Lance went quiet again. He appeared to be struggling with something, but didn’t seem to want to speak aloud. They finally reached their houses and Hunk was forced to say goodbye and not receive an answer. 

Lance was attacked the instant he was inside, but he moved through the motions – and the sea of energetic children – without much thought. He managed to make it to his room before he was bogged down too much, and collapsed onto his bed with a defeated sigh.

Why did he have to be so see through?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Headcanon: Pining Matt, dense Shiro


	3. Glow Golf

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While running damage control between Matt and Shiro, Pidge and Keith run into Lance and Hunk. Begin glow golf montage scene.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I took a while to get into a groove with this chapter, but I think it turned out pretty well.

Friday practice was a blessing. The late summer air still trapped the intense heat of the passing season and the boys on the team were having trouble keeping their energy up. Lance knew he was keeping better than the rest of them, he always did, but even he was having trouble picking up his feet, and it was his job to be the fastest. Well, second fastest. 

Keith looked like he was the only one not having any trouble. He would sprint across the field without any hesitation and score a goal and then jog back a bit to allow someone else a chance to try. Naturally, no one else tried, so he would simply take the ball back without hesitation and score yet another goal. Lance was glad they had at least been put on the same team.

Luckily, Shiro was catching their lazy vibes from the other end of the field and blew his whistle to call for a stop. Groaning with relief the entire team shuffled toward Shiro, who walked to meet them halfway. Keith was the first to the coach, his expression one of major indifference toward the rest of his teammates. 

Lance glared in his direction. Stupid show off. Lance had that kind of stamina, he was just hiding it so that the team could see how awesome he was later. Keith didn’t need to know how cool he was right away.

“Alright, looks like the heat is going to cancel practice early today. Everyone hit the showers, you probably smell awful.” Shiro called to the entire team, earning a weak roar of approval before everyone half heartedly began the jog toward the locker room. Keith fell back into step with Shiro.

“Why are you ending practice early? It’s not even that bad out.” He insisted, finding it hard to believe that Shiro would be so weak as to end practice early. His brother shrugged and wrapped an arm around Keith’s shoulders.

“These guys don’t have the same intense training you got at Galra. Plus, I have a date tonight and I wanted the extra time to get ready.” Shiro responded, a grin plastered on his overly kind face. Keith’s head snapped up toward his brother at the last comment.

“Um, a date?” Keith asked, hoping he didn’t sound too wary of the idea of his brother going on a date. It was Shiro’s life, he got to choose what to do with it, but Keith knew something Shiro didn’t. A silent war waged inside of him; did he tell Shiro about Matt? That would be rude to his brother’s best friend, but Shiro was going to break his heart of Keith didn’t do something.

“You don’t have to sound so upset. She’s really nice and she actually works here. She’s a part time librarian, so you probably don’t know her. You kids don’t read books anymore.” Shiro teased, roughing up Keith’s hair as they approached the door to the locker room. Keith pretended to laugh the whole thing off, glad his brother hadn’t caught the real reason behind his wariness. 

“Does Matt know you’re going out?” Keith asked, hoping that asking if his roommate knew sounded less like ‘did you ask mom’ and more like ‘does he know you won’t need dinner’. Matt always made enough for four because Pidge basically lived there.

“I haven’t mentioned it yet. I figured I’d go out today and get to know her better and then tell Matt after I decide if she’s a keeper.” Shiro replied and Keith felt his body tense up. Again, Shiro didn’t seem to notice anything and just pushed him off toward the showers. Keith’s mind was in turmoil. On the one hand, it was safe to keep it from Matt because Shiro had waited for the last minute to tell Keith, Matt would blow a gasket. But at the same time, it was easier to do damage control for a date rather than a girlfriend. 

Keith’s mind thought of how to approach this as he stepped into the showers and allowed the cold water to run over his body. The cold water felt amazing running down his hot body and he realized just how exhausted he had been. Shiro had been right when he had brought up Keith’s Galra training. The soccer team always had a summer training session in the middle of the desert over the summer to build stamina. After having trained with the Voltron team for a week, he realized he was getting soft.

Standing under the water, the Asian teen waited for what felt like ages before finally deciding to scrub himself up and then shut it off. When he turned around he found Lance just walking in behind him. The taller, darker teen didn’t even seem to acknowledge him as he grabbed his towel and left to get dressed. It felt nice, for once, to not be pestered by the annoying ego of his ‘rival’. 

It didn’t take long for him to change and by the time he was slinging his duffle bag over his shoulder, Shiro was calling for everyone to finish up. Keith headed back toward Shiro as everyone else headed out the doors. His brother stood where he normally did, looking over the group as they passed, telling them all to have a great weekend and to not push themselves too hard.

“You ready?” He asked as soon as Keith had reached him. With a single nod Keith responded and the two headed out. The drive home was silent as Keith watched the houses pass by outside the window. When they finally got back, Shiro took the stairs two at a time and bypassed the usual Matt greeting. 

Instead, he jumped right into his room where he prepared to take a shower and get ready for his date. Mat clicked his tongue and turned back to making dinner, disappointed that Shiro hadn’t said hi. Pidge, on the other hand, looked right to Keith and Keith gave them a look that told them enough. As Keith entered his room, Pidge joined him, taking a seat at his desk so he could have the bed. It was sort of a trade off situation.

“Shiro’s going on a date.” It wasn’t so much as a question as a statement from Pidge as they looked Keith right in the eye. The older teen nodded solemnly and Pidge groaned. They had had to do damage control before, Matt was hopelessly in love with his straight best friend and there was constantly a need to catch him before Shiro hurt him too badly. Luckily, none of Shiro’s dates had ever become serious enough to bring home. 

They still couldn’t play it safe.

“We should probably have Matt out of the house before Shiro leaves.” Keith suggested as he thought about what they were going to do. Normally Shiro could just leave the house and Matt wouldn’t question it, but the enthusiasm with which Shiro was getting prepared made it obvious that this was not a casual date. He was getting dressed up and if Matt saw that, he would start asking questions.

“I have a good idea for that.” Pidge responded before standing and leaving the room. Curious, Keith followed them out. Matt was still at the stove making dinner as Pidge approached him. Keith stood back just in case something weird happened.

“Keith and I are going to GameStop to check out a new release. Come with us.” Pidge said and Keith’s eyes widened in surprise. Usually getting Matt out of the house is pretty easy, but a lot of the time Pidge likes to make it more complicated than it should be because Matt’s their brother and they can. Although Keith wondered why he was going to join them, he figured it made more sense than Pidge going alone.

“Dinner’s almost ready, you guys don’t want any?” Matt asked, turning his full body toward the two of them. Matt was well known for his extremely great conversation skills and super oblivious nature. The smaller Holt was basically a spitting image of the taller one. It almost always gave Keith difficulty when they were younger and the two were closer in height.

“Just put it in a bag. We can eat it tomorrow.” Pidge suggested, not sounding very much like no was going to be an answer. Matt sighed, upset that they wouldn’t be eating his dinner right away. Keith was relieved because it meant they wouldn’t have to worry about Shiro’s portion. Pidge grabbed their shoes while Matt finished up the food and then started packing it into plastic Tupperware containers. 

“I’ll just leave a note for Shiro.” Matt commented, grabbed a pen and a sheet of paper off the notepad on the fridge. Keith was about to say something but Pidge cut in.

“Shiro’s got some stuff to do tonight, so he’ll probably be eating out.” They informed Matt and, with a look of surprise, Matt turned to Keith who nodded in confirmation. With a shrug Matt finished what he had been writing and left it on the table.

“I still want him to know where we went.” Matt said before turning away and heading toward his room to grab his own shoes. Pidge groaned when he was officially out of earshot and Keith smiled in understanding. Matt laid it on just a little too thick sometimes.

When Matt came back out the three of them headed out the door and to Matt’s car where Keith crammed himself into the back because Pidge called shotgun. The trip to the mall was a little uncomfortable, but Keith could handle it since it wasn’t very far. When they arrived the place was pretty packed with teenagers starting the weekend off right. Luckily, GameStop was rather empty.

For an hour they spent their time testing out the game Pidge had said they wanted to look at. Keith gave it a whirl just to amuse them and ended up beating them, much to his own surprise and their disappointment. 

As they were leaving the store Pidge rambled on and on about how they would never play Keith again in any video game.

“You know that’s not true.” Matt said as he scanned the busy mall for any signs of food. Pidge huffed and grumbled something about finding a way to beat him because they were better at video games anyway. “That’s the spirit.” Matt said, obviously distracted by his search for where they were going to head next. 

They wandered the mall for a couple more minutes before they found the food court and grabbed some grub. Keith was more than thrilled to have something to eat and to finally get to sit down. It was crowded but the food court tables allowed for a little more space. 

“So, how has practice been going?” Matt asked as they sat down with their food. Pidge had already begun to dig in, so there was no including them into the conversation. Pidge had probably already told Matt everything about school so far, anyway.

“Pretty good. The Voltron team doesn’t have as much conditioning as Galra did, so I’m always far ahead.” Keith responded, taking a bite of the chow mien noodles he had grabbed. The teen was partial to Chinese food, find the traditional food rather delicious.

“I’m sure they’ll get better. Shiro’s the coach, anyway.” Matt replied, sounding immediately sappy at Shiro’s name. Keith tried very hard not to groan but Pidge didn’t even try to hide it, granted it was hard to decipher it between the sounds they made as they ate. 

“Therth thith Lanth guy-“ Pidge started, but was cut off when Matt shot them a look.

“I can’t understand what you’re saying. And stop talking with food in your mouth. It’s disgusting.” Matt scolded and Pidge rolled their eyes before finishing chewing.

“Whatever you say, mom.” Pidge grumbled after they had swallowed. Matt grinned in victory before gesturing for Pidge to continue what they were saying. “So, there’s this Lance guy who insists he and Keith are rivals. I met him the other day at lunch”- This time it was Keith’s turn to interrupt Pidge.

“Oh, yeah, I heard about your little run in with him and Hunk. You told them everything?” Keith accused, but Pidge didn’t look the least bit fazed over the angry tone in Keith’s voice. They had known each other for too long.

“Yeah, well, you owe me for a few things, so I took the liberty of telling them everything.” Pidge responded and Keith felt himself heat up with anger all over again. He had forgotten to confront Pidge about the whole thing the day it had happened. 

“Everything? As in…?” Matt prompted, confused about the whole conversation. As Pidge replied, Keith’s attention was drawn away to the corner of the food court and the hard to miss Samoan guy with the Voltron High School soccer jacket on. Next to him walked a rather cocky looking teen wearing a tank top and a cap backward. He looked so stupid.

“Yo, Keith, what’s up, bud?” Pidge asked when their hand waved before Keith’s face. He hadn’t even realized he had been staring until then, but he must have looked pretty angry since both Pidge and Matt looked concerned.

“Speak of the devil.” Keith muttered angrily before gesturing in the general direction of the two. Pidge and Matt turned at the same time to spot the duo. Naturally, Pidge was first to catch them since they knew what the two looked like. Matt didn’t see them until Pidge began to wave maniacally in Hunk’s direction and the dark skinned goalie returned the wave. 

Keith ducked his head and ate his food with a purpose as the two approached, hoping Lance wouldn’t see him and would just leave after talking to Pidge.

“Hey Pidge, hey Keith. What are you guys up to?” Hunk greeted when he approached and Keith couldn’t hide anymore. Looking back up he noticed Lance wasn’t looking at him, but rather, looking right at Matt. They both seemed to stare at each other for a second before turning away to join in the conversation. Odd.

“We were just at GameStop. What about you guys?” Pidge asked, not really directing this toward Lance in any way. The taller boy seemed slightly offended, but left this detail to his face and didn’t say anything.

“Just hanging out.” Hunk responded before looking down and realizing Matt was sitting right in front of him. “I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Hunk Garett.” Hunk said, not missing a beat as he held out a hand. Mat took it with a grin.

“Matt. I’m this things older brother.” Matt replied, shooting a thumb over their shoulder at Pidge, who gave him a demonic look from behind. Hunk laughed at this and even Lance seemed to enjoy the joke. 

“Mind if we join you?” Hunk asked and Matt gestured to the empty seats at the tables they had taken. Hunk pulled up a spot next to Pidge and across from Keith while Lance had to grab an extra chair and join them between Hunk and Keith at the end of one of the tables.

“So, you must be Lance. I hear you and Keith are rivals.” Matt turned his mischievous toward Lance, who’s resting content face changed rapidly to one of an eight year long grudge. 

“No, we’re not, we’re teammates now.” Lance grumbled, but it was obvious he was trying to hold back how angry he was that he was admitting it. By the proud look on Hunk’s face, it had been his idea that Lance think this way. 

“Really? I thought you were determined to beat him?” Matt asked, pushing it a little harder. Keith glared in Matt’s direction but he didn’t seem to notice as he looked over at Lance. Pidge had to have gotten it from somewhere.

“Now that we’re on the same team, there’s no way I can beat him.” Lance muttered angrily and Keith turned to look at his pouting face. A grin crossed Keith’s face and he felt a little bit of what Matt must have been feeling.

“So you admit you wouldn’t have been able to beat me?” Keith asked and Lance’s head shot up, eyes locking immediately with Keith. It was almost like the first day he had met Lance, the teen seemed to freeze and time seemed to slow down. Only it lasted for a shorter amount of time and Lance was immediately on defense.

“I mean that there’s no way I have a chance to beat you. We’re on the same team, it would be stupid to compete.” Lance retorted, clearly trying very hard not to tell Keith that he would have beaten him if he had been given the chance.

“Are you giving up then?” Keith taunted, enjoying the feeling of ticking Lance off now that he had realized everything about himself angered Lance. This very clearly angered Lance beyond belief and he took and even more defensive stance.

“No. I would never give up.” Lance growled and Keith raised an eyebrow. Everyone else at the table had stopped existing as they argued over this fact. Keith had the upperhand, but Lance wasn’t ready to admit that.

“Then I challenge you to a game of glow golf.” Keith proposed and Lance’s angry sneer turned to a grin of pure, determined joy.

“You are on!” He responded and the two stood, heading straight toward the glow golf and arcade area. Hunk, Matt, and Pidge stood hastily to join them, figuring it was best to keep them from killing each other. Well, that was what Hunk and Matt were thinking; Pidge was just ready to see some bloodshed. 

“Why glow golf, of all the arcade games he could have chosen?” Hunk asked, trying his best to keep up with Pidge’s eager footsteps. The small teen snickered.

“Keith has been the champion at glow golf since I first knew him. I don’t think I have ever seen anyone beat him. And I’ve tried.” Pidge responded as they rounded a corner and the glow golf place came into view. Keith and Lance reached it before they did, but they managed to still pay before the two started the competition. 

“I’m blue.” Lance stated like a king in his domain. Keith shrugged and grabbed a stick without really being too choosy.

“I guess I’m red, then.” He responded, grabbing a random ball after setting his stick down by his side. Lance gasped, holding his hand up dramatically against his chest offended.

“That is pink, Keith. How dare you call it red.” He scoffed and Keith looked down at the golf club, the dull color having no special effects as they stood under the regular fluorescent lights of the glow golf entrance.

“I think it looks red.” Keith responded as the other three came over and grabbed their own clubs. Hunk chose yellow and both Matt and Pidge grabbed a green one. The three made sure their balls matched their clubs before joining Lance and Keith where they stood.

“It is most definitely a dark pink.” Lance was defending the golf club with his very being, and the look on Keith’s face made it obvious he didn’t understand. 

“Whatever color it is, it’s mine, alright?” Keith finally state, voice sounding just a bit disgruntled at Lance’s defensive nature. The taller teen didn’t retort, but left the conversation with an angry huff. But he did stop Keith before they went in.

“You have to match your club and your ball. Those are the unspoken rules.” Lance instructed, taking the ball Keith was holding and grabbing one that matched it. Keith looked down at the new ball in his hands and then back up at Lance. He looked very confused, but Lance gave him an innocent look.

“I have never heard of that rule.” Keith said, looking down at the ball and the club and then back up at Lance who stood with one hand on one hip, the ball in that hand, and his club in the other hand.

“That’s because it’s unspoken, Keith.” Lance responded before turning swiftly and leading the group through the black curtains and into the black lit room beyond. Keith followed after him, expression still confused. Pidge continued to laugh at the whole thing while Matt and Hunk followed behind, interested to see how it would turn out, but not willing to get involved.

“Be ready to be wowed, mullet.” Lance informed Keith, setting his ball down at the first hole. There were a few obstacles in the way, but they were little bricks with bright paint that were only in the way of the ball was hit toward them. Which left a perfectly straight shot toward the hole. 

Which Lance almost made in one hit.

The ball shot smoothly across the black carpet on the course and toward the hole. It wasn’t a perfectly straight shot, so it hit the dip surrounding the hole and turned the ball in a different direction, leaving it to rest beside the walls on the first hole.

“Wow.” Keith muttered, holding back a laugh as Lance grumbled at the ball as if it had been its fault, and not his. Naturally, Keith made the hole in one shot. Matt and Hunk took three, Pidge took one, and Lance took two before the group moved on to the next hole. 

This one consisted of a turn and a small bridge. There were a few other bumpers along this course, but one shot up the bridge would lead the ball straight into the hole. Naturally, there were bumpers on the bridge as well and the bridge sat at an odd angle and right in the turn.

Lance, having dubbed himself the first to go, set his ball down and hit it gently, sending it sailing right up the bridge. It was knocked around a bit in the bumpers before coming to a rest right at the bottom of the slope, mere inches from the hole. 

Once again, Keith got a hole in one.

The game continued on in a similar fashion. Occasionally Lance would mutter an insult to the ball or Keith, but Keith would laugh it off and throw Lance off balance. The whole game weighed heavily on the fact that Lance wasn’t really competing anymore. Keith still determined to win, was taking his time with each shot and getting in the best hits. Lance, on the other hand, continued to hit the ball well, but didn’t necessarily aim well enough to hit the best shots. 

At the underwater themed hole, the sunken ship ramp was two thirds out of commission and allowed only the lamest of the three slots to be used. 

“This isn’t fair!” Lance complained as they approached it to find the top half of the ramp boarded up. “We can’t play our best if the course isn’t at its best.” He grumbled, setting his ball down and hitting it angrily up the ramp. 

In any normal game, the ball would have shot to the top of the ramp, skipping over two trenches, and landed in the third trench at the top, sending the ball right into the hole, or at least very close to it. Since the top two trenches were blocked, the ball dropped right into the first trench and shot out a hole in the side, hitting a bumper and settling a good foot from the hole. 

“Your best shouldn’t be dependent on the course.” Hunk replied, watching as Keith set down his ball and hit it gently toward the trench. It sunk into the hole and popped out, hitting the same bumper Lance’s ball had hit. Only this time, it glided within a few inches of the hole. 

Keith smirked up at Lance, who appeared frozen in shock over the whole thing. His eyes were opened wide and practically glowing under the black light. Their usual shade of blue was intensified with the use of nicely placed lights that made his eyes match his golf club. His tank top and dark skin blended in with the rest of their surroundings, making his eyes the brightest part of him.

Wow.

Keith snapped out of his staring when he heard a ball crack against the board at the back of the ramp. Whipping his head toward the sound he watched as Pidge, grumbling angrily to themselves, walking away from the course to where their ball had ended up in another course. Grinning, he called behind himself, making sure they heard him.

“That still counts as a shot.” This was met with a not so nice hand gesture and laughter from the rest of the group. 

The rest of the competition went similarly to the start. The courses gradually got harder and the lowest amount of shots for each hole grew. Naturally, Keith made each of these without a problem. The only one he had trouble with the was the traditional, and ever threatening: windmill hole.

“I hate this one.” Keith muttered as they approached it. Depending on the angel of the hit, the ball would either be spit out the side of the windmill, straight toward the hole, or into a forest of bumpers on near the hole. The windmill was about halfway down the short course and Keith had never been able to read a pattern on the trajectory required for the right shot.

“Wait? You had the classic windmill course? No way!” Lance exclaimed, laughing at Keith’s weakness, his face one of actual surprise rather than mocking. Lance grinned, as he set his ball down and looked down the course.

“Yeah. I’ve never met anyone who can hit the right angle to get the hole in one.” Keith muttered, crossing his arms as he watched Lance swing his club with expert precision. The ball sailed down the black carpet with confidence and hit right into the windmill, coming out somewhere on the other side.

Then the telltale sound of the ball in the hole reached them.

Mouth agape, Keith followed Lance to the other side where the little blue ball sat, glowing the pride as Lance picked it out of the hole and practically waved it in Keith’s face.

“I perfected this hole years ago.” Lance boasted, air kissing the ball before gesturing for Keith to return to the start. “Now you. I want to see you lose this one.” Lance waved him off and Keith turned, heading back to where Hunk, Matt, and Pidge waited. Pidge’s expression was one of pure joy from the pain of others and Hunk seemed genuinely proud of his friend.

“Well, at least you have the rest of the game.” Matt offered and Keith shrugged. It wasn’t so much about the game anymore. Keith had worked for years trying to figure out the secret to the windmill hole, and yet, there was Lance. One hit and it was in the hole. Part of it injured his part, another part of it left him in awe of Lance, who hadn’t been so much boasting as to rub it in, but because it was something he had worked hard to accomplish.

Keith set down the ball and looked dead ahead at the windmill, watching the looming blades that never moved. It was silly, since most mini golf windmill holes had moving blades, which made them iconic and impossible to bypass. But Keith could handle those ones, this one was harder to master.

Softly he hit the ball, aiming it for the center. He had tried this trick many times, sometimes throwing the ball directly into the windmill just to test it, but it had never turned out right. The ball made the sounds of hitting a few walls and then rolling out of the windmill. It didn’t pop out the side, and the expression on Lance’s face was one of surprise, but there was no sound of the ball going into the hole.

“That was a pretty luck guess.” Lance said as Keith approached to find the ball sitting right on the edge of the hole. If Lance’s ball hadn’t done this several times already, Keith would have begged for it to be dubbed a hole in one. 

After the windmill hole, everything went smoothly. The fun part was the final hole, where the ball return happened.

“Ball return hole is the most annoying.” Pidge groaned as Lance set down his ball and shot it up the ramp. 

The ball return hole was a huge slope. Up the far right side was an uncovered ramp where the ball was to be aimed. If not rocketed up the ramp, it would hit a corner and be lead down a series to pegs, bouncing off them until the ball finally disappeared and was returned.

“Why? It’s one of the easiest ones.” Hunk pointed out as Keith set down his ball. No one ever counted the ball return hole as an actual hole, so Lance’s hole in one really didn’t count. Keith made it with a single shot as well.

“I don’t get to hit it as hard as I want.” Pidge muttered as Hunk returned his ball. Setting down their own ball, Pidge tried hitting it gently but ended up sending it rocketing back toward their feet, where it bounced off the back wall and came to a rest at Lance’s toes. 

“Oh.” Hunk voiced, watching as Pidge took the ball from Lance and tried again. Luckily, it only took three tries before the ball was returned and Matt was able to get the hole in two. As the complete opposite of Pidge, Matt’s hits were far too soft for any effective shots. 

As they returned their clubs, the group tallied up their scores in their heads, looking a little odd as they walked slowly back into the mall. 

“I got 47 points! Beat that!” Lance exclaimed once he finished his calculations, jumping for joy and pointing at Keith with enthusiasm. Keith smirked.

“45.” He responded simply and Lance’s expression turned to shock and then to anger. With a huff he turned away and ignored all of them. “Hey, you agreed to compete.” Keith said with a shrug, hoping he could snap Lance out of his new slump. Obviously not, as the tall teen didn’t respond.

“Don’t worry, he’s not very good at the whole sportsmanship thing.” Hunk said, pulling beside Keith with Pidge and Matt on his other side. Keith raised an eyebrow and Hunk shrugged. “He’s a good actor at official games, though.” 

For a moment they walked in the mall in silence. Pidge and Hunk began a conversation about something extremely complex and science-y sounding and Matt joined in, but Lance remained ahead of them and Keith remained silent.

After five minutes, Keith jogged up next to Lance and tried to look him in the eye. Lance wasn’t having any of it.

“You’re such a baby.” Keith muttered, crossing his arms with a huff, looking just like Lance but not nearly as shut in. For a moment they walked like this, the conversation continuing behind them. “Now that I beat you, can we drop the soccer thing?” Keith asked, turning his head slightly to see if he could look Lance in the eye. The taller boy scoffed, sneered, and then scoffed again.

“That was glow golf! Sure, it took my mind off of soccer for a bit, but you still exist and you’re still on my team. It takes a lot to drop a lifelong rivalry.” Lance spat, looking over at Keith, his blue eyes narrowed in anger. Something about them was still beautiful, despite the lack of black lights and even with the angry expression.

“I’m not even sure if there was much of a rivalry. I’d call it an obsession.” Keith retorted, looking into Lance’s eyes with equal anger. The taller teen froze, forcing Keith to stop in his tracks and turn his body to face him. His angry expression wasn’t gone, but added onto it was a look of realization. Something Keith had said had made something come to light in Lance’s mind. 

Honestly, he looked offended.

“You know what? Screw you, Keith Kogane. Screw you.” Lance hissed before turning dramatically and walking away. Keith watched, shocked as the back of Lance’s stupid black tank top disappeared into the crowd. Hunk, Matt, and Pidge watched him go.

“I should probably go.” Hunk sighed, waving at the three of them and saying goodbye as he left. Keith watched, still frozen in shock, as Hunk disappeared into the crowd after Lance. The familiar sound of Matt clicking his tongue snapped Keith back to reality.

“For a moment there, I thought you two were getting along.” He spoke with disappointed hope and Keith realized he had been right. Despite Lance’s threats and the competition during glow golf, the air hadn’t actually felt hostile around Lance the whole night. As these thoughts crossed Keith’s mind, his phone vibrated in his pocket.

“We should probably head home, it’s getting late.” Matt suggested and Pidge grumbled a response along the lines of not needing sleep and it being Friday night. When Matt responded, starting them toward the mall entrance, Pidge retorted with something about Matt being mom and Matt simply laughed.

All this happened while Keith pulled out his phone, read the message, and almost froze. 

‘I brought Allura over to the apartment. I’m sorry I didn’t give you much warning, but I’m excited for you to meet her!’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and enjoy next time: further damage control and a math project.


	4. School Project

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a project in math and guess who Keith ends up working with? Also, Shiro seems a little peeved at practice and Lance makes a bet so Keith will tell him why.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So first I wrote for the wrong story, then I totally procrastinated, but now here it is. And it's longer than I intended it to be! A bit of a filler, but I hope you enjoy it!

Keith dropped into his seat in first period with a rather unattractive noise. After the weekend, which seemed longer than it was, he had to go back to school and deal with more of Lance’s crap. The worst part of it all was that Lance sat directly behind him in math and probably felt obligated to pick on Keith from behind.

The world never ceased to find ways to annoy him.

Preparing for the class to be kicked off by a stupid Lance retort or a challenge in soccer or something equally annoying, Keith was surprised when the class started with the teacher walking up to the front late.

“G’morning class. Sorry I’m late, a friend needed help with something. But I’m here now, so let’s get started.” The tall man had a thick Australian accent, bright red hair and a mustache to match. He was certainly a spunky person, which made math just a little more fun. Keith enjoyed his class on days Lance didn’t insist on poking him in the back all the time. This was one of those days.

Yet, Keith didn’t feel pleased.

As the day progressed and the teacher finally turned toward the front to ask if there were any questions, Keith realized why he was so discontent. Lance wasn’t being a jerk and something about that was unsettling. Was it something he had said during glow golf? Keith mentally kicked himself for thinking about Lance. He didn’t care about him, why would he care about him.

“Alright, class. We’re going to be starting a project today.” This announcement was met with several groans, including Keith’s own sigh of annoyance. At least it wasn’t a group or partner project, Keith didn’t know anyone in this class except Lance and there was no way he was going to work with him. “You all get to choose your partners, so have at it! I’ll give you further instruction when everyone is settled.” 

Now Keith was screwed.

Turning around the room he watched as everyone partnered up with someone they knew. They had all been at Voltron High for three years now and it was hard to come across a person who didn’t have a friend in the class.

“Yo, Keith.” The sound of his name caused him to turn around without thinking and he was faced with Lance, who looked almost as if it hurt him to say the name. Keith groaned and Lance rolled his eyes in response. “Be my partner?” He asked and Keith looked around, hoping that maybe someone was still left without a partner. Lance rolled his eyes again. “I just rejected two people, so you better say yes.” Lance mumbled out and Keith turned back to him in shock.

Lance was denying other people, people he got along with, to be Keith’s partner? Keith gave him a strange look and began to search his face.

“Who are you?” He asked after a second and Lance rolled his eyes again. It had suddenly become a new occurrence for the darker skinned teen. Keith wasn’t sure if he liked it, but the sight of those blue eyes rolling was actually kind of hypnotizing.

“Lance, Lance McClain. So yea or nay because Mr. Altea is getting ready to give further instruction and I’d like to listen.” Lance responded snarkily, and Keith could see a small piece of the annoying Lance he knew oh so well returning. Keith just had to give him more bait.

“Fine, I’ll be your partner.” Keith responded, hoping he knew Lance well enough to know he wouldn’t pass up the opportunity for a pick up line. Luckily, he didn’t. The disgruntled look on Lance’s face turned to one of realization and suddenly he was giving Keith a crooked smirk and placing a finger gun shape under his face as if he was thinking.

“Partners for life?” Lance asked and Keith had to turn away with the rolling of his eyes to hide the small smile that cracked his face. 

 

“Alright, so, we’re working on the project today after practice, right?” Lance asked, jogging up next to Keith in full practice clothes. Keith had been on the field earlier than the tall forward but Lance looked really refreshed and the lack of oppressing heat and the addition of a small breeze seemed to liven him up a bit.

“Yeah, sure.” Keith responded, juggling a ball between his two feet absently. He got tired waiting for the team to reach the field. At Galra it was five minutes in the locker room or you ran ten laps around the field for every minute over. Keith had rarely gotten that penalty and always made it out on time. Naturally, old habits die hard.

“Could we do it at your place? I was thinking of trying to convince Shiro to make me captain next year.” Lance mused, striking a few ridiculous poses as if this showed off his ability to be a good captain. Rolling his eyes, Keith caught the ball and stopped moving his feet. This allowed him to turn to Lance completely so they could speak.

“For one, Shiro would never just let you be captain.” Keith started matter-of-factly, earning a pouty look from Lance. “And for another, my place won’t work. Is yours fine?” Keith asked, hoping it was. Otherwise it was the library or some hang out spot Keith was unaware of and he preferred the feeling of privacy a home provided.

“Why won’t your place work?” Lance asked, his pushy curiosity getting the better of him. Keith recalled the events of the weekend and sighed, annoyed that Lance felt the need to pry. 

“It just won’t, alright. Will your place be fine?” Keith responded, repeating his question angrily and hoping Lance would drop the subject of his apartment. He and Pidge were still doing damage control on Matt and Shiro and so far, it wasn’t going so well. 

“Yeah, yeah, my place works. But I warn you now, I have a really friendly family.” Lance said, leaning in to emphasize the word ‘friendly’ and Keith felt himself growing wary already. Maybe he should have just suggested the library.

“Where is everyone? Practice was supposed to start five minutes ago.” The voice was Shiro as he came down from the locker room. He normally gave the guys ten minutes to get ready and then a five minute leeway. It had only been ten minutes since they had all gotten to the locker room. Shiro was down before the five minute leeway had even started. Personally, Keith liked that Shiro had suddenly dropped it.

“You always give us extra time, coach.” Lance responded, jogging up toward him to talk with him. Shiro definitely did not look very happy about his team still getting ready and he put his hands on his hips like a disapproving mother to show this.

“Well we have our first game tomorrow and I think everyone should be stepping up their performances. You’re down here, Lance. I think if you can get ready in that time, everyone else can.” Shiro responded and Lance backed away slightly, leaning over toward Keith who had followed up behind him. As Lance leaned over to whisper to the striker, Shiro turned to find the rest of the team headed toward the field. 

“What’s his problem?” Lance asked and Keith had to sigh, annoyed that his brother was reacting the way he was and that the poor team was going to get the brunt of it.

“Bad weekend.” Keith responded and Lance’s brows pushed closer together, making him look far more confused than he had a few minutes ago. His expression pleaded for further explanation but Keith could only sigh and shake his head. “Just…don’t do anything that might piss him off.” Keith suggested, taking the ball and heading to where Shiro had started scolding the team.

“Dude, he’s already pissed off.” Lance exclaimed, trying to keep this quiet as he followed Keith. Pissing off Shiro probably included letting him know he was pissed off, so he figured it was best to keep it quiet. 

“-except Keith and Lance. They were down to the field on time.” Shiro was saying when the two finally came within earshot. The entire team looked at the striker and forward as they approached and Keith suddenly felt like he had been put on the spot. “Now get going!” Shiro shouted, gesturing toward the field and the entire team groaned as they began to run. “Any complaining and I’ll add more laps.” Several groans from the freshmen were stifled by older students as they began the run. 

Lance and Keith stood off to the side to watch as their friends and teammates ran ten laps around the field as punishment for being ready late. 

“So, like, what actually happened over the weekend to piss Shiro off?” Lance whispered, leaning sideways toward Keith to look like he wasn’t talking to him. If Shiro caught them talking, he might penalize them as well. 

“It’s not important.” Keith responded, tossing the ball a bit and heading toward the goal. Lance followed behind him, arms out to his side for dramatic effect as he posed his next statement.

“Not important? Keith, he’s taking it out on the entire team. How is it not important?” Lance asked, his voice rising a bit as he said this. Keith dropped the ball to the field and sighed, annoyed that Lance kept pressing the matter. 

“Lance, just drop it, alright?” Keith called back, poking the ball with his feet as Lance came to a stop several feet away. The tall, muscular teen was clearly not taking this well and Keith was having a hard time getting him to drop the subject. What happened to Shiro outside of practice wasn’t important to Lance.

“Is it for the same reason I can’t come over to your place?” Lance asked, crossing his arms and taking on a defensive stance. Lance had hit the nail right on the head with this question, but Keith wasn’t about to let him know that. With a fierce kick, Keith shot the ball right to Lance who, shocked, stopped it dead in its tracks. 

“I said drop it.” Keith growled and Lance took on a look Keith had only seen once while playing glow golf. Lance was taking up a challenge. Keith wasn’t going to be able to avoid this, either, since he enjoyed competing nearly as much as Lance did. It just wasn’t an obsession.

“I score more goals than you in the time it takes them to finish their laps and you tell me.” Lance challenged and Keith felt his brother’s privacy was a bad thing to put on the line for a stupid competition. He held back from agreeing immediately, not liking the idea of betraying Shiro for this.

“Lance, this is stupid.” Keith crossed his arms, trying to make it look like he wasn’t going to move. However, when Lance struck the ball with great force Keith couldn’t resist launching his own foot out to stop it, watching as it bounced off his foot and came to a stop between them.

“It won’t be that bad. Plus, if you know you’re going to win, then there’s nothing to lose.” Lance explained, that stupid cocky grin overcoming his face as he said this. Keith wanted so much to launch the ball right into his face when he looked like that. But Lance was right, he knew he was better and since he knew that, this shouldn’t be a problem.

“Fine.” Keith muttered and was taken by surprise when Lance launched himself toward the ball immediately, catching Keith off guard and slipping passed him to make a goal. “Hey!” Keith exclaimed and Lance did some stupid, yet really attractive, victory dance that involved a lot of hip swinging. 

With a growl, Keith shot toward the goal and dug the ball from the net, advancing toward the other end of the field, taking Lance by surprise this time. He was able to make the goal just before Lance tried to slip the ball away from Keith. This time, when Lance took the ball, Keith was right beside him, playing his feet in front of the forward to attempt to take the ball. 

They were both in their element as they fought back and forth, stealing the ball from one another, making goals, and shouting empty threats toward one another. Lance had just scored another goal and put himself in the lead when they heard someone calling them.

“Lance! Keith! Get over here! We’re starting practice!” It was Shiro, not looking angry, per se, but not entirely pleased. They had been practicing, in a way. Lance laughed triumphantly as he grabbed the ball from the goal and slid passed Keith toward where the team had gathered.

“Looks like I win.” Lance whispered as he passed and Keith felt ready to lash out at him. Maybe throwing a punch wouldn’t be too bad. But Keith knew better than to hit Lance with Shiro watching them. No matter how much he felt like doing it, he had to hold back.

Sadly, he also had to tell Lance why Shiro was in such a bad mood.

 

“Okay, so, why was coach in a bad mood today?” Lance, Keith, and Hunk walked through the neighborhoods across from the school on their way toward Lance’s house. Hunk lived close by, apparently, and the two waked home together every day. Keith sighed, tired of having Lance hanging over his shoulder. The forward had been nice enough to drop the subject during practice but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to pick it up the instant he had the chance.

“I don’t remember including Hunk in the deal.” Keith muttered, not taking a side glance at Hunk as he said it, but hyper focusing toward the ground. Hunk had been the last one to finish with running and the entire reason Lance had ended up winning. It wasn’t that Keith was blaming him, he just hadn’t been included in their deal.

“What deal?” Hunk asked, trying to make it obvious that he was still there. Lance grinned and slung an arm around his best friend’s shoulders.

“Keith and I made a deal while you guys were running. I won, so he has to tell me why Shiro was in such a bad mood.” Keith shot Lance a glare and Lance took on a mock offended look. “Hunk is basically like my brother, Keith. Trust me, we’re basically the same person.” Lance explained, squeezing Hunk’s shoulders slightly.

“Wait, Lance. What did you bet?” Hunk asked, looking awkwardly toward Lance, who was hanging off his shoulder and at a weird angle. Lance straightened up and dropped his arm. 

“Nothing.” He responded and Hunk sighed. Keith had realized that, too. Lance had only bet that Keith would give information. It had been stupid of Keith to allow Lance to get away with nothing on the off chance that the taller teen lost. But the idea of sharing Shiro’s personal life with someone else had been enough of a motivator to make Keith want to win. Alas, he had lost.

“Alright, I’ll tell you.” Keith sighed, looking back toward the ground. His hair had dried shortly after they had left the locker room, but there was still water dripping from his ponytail down his neck. Both Lance and Hunk were perfectly dry with their fine, short hair. 

“Keith, you really don’t have to tell me if you don’t want.” Hunk said, offering Keith the cop out he had been wanting. There was a moment of silence as Keith contemplated taking this offer. It was Shiro’s privacy, he shouldn’t really be sharing it. 

“We have half an hour before we might possibly be alone. I don’t want to wait that long.” Lance huffed, wanting the prize for winning right then and there. Keith sighed. Hunk wasn’t going to go around telling anyone. It was Lance he was most worried about, but Lance was the one he promised to tell.

“Fine.” Keith groaned, and then jumped right into the story of Matt and Shiro’s meeting, their moving in together, and then delving into the weekend starting at the moment Keith had received the text from Shiro.

\---

“Uh, maybe we can hang around just a little longer? I mean, Pidge is right, it is Friday.” Keith said, frantically typing a message out to Shiro saying that they wouldn’t be home for a while and that he shouldn’t keep Allura there for too long. 

“Thank you, Keith! C’mon, let’s go get ice cream!” Pidge exclaimed, looking up toward Matt who turned toward them both with a thoughtful look. Pidge clearly hadn’t caught his worried tone and Keith was hoping Matt would say they could stay for longer so that Shiro could get Allura out of the house before they got back. He didn’t want to have to pull Pidge to the side and tell them what was going on.

“I don’t know, guys. I’m getting pretty tired and I have a lot of homework to finish tomorrow.” Matt mused, grabbing his phone and looking at the time. It was still several hours before the mall closed, but it was clearly dark out. Keith shot Pidge a hasty text with the shortest summary of what was going on:

‘shiro brought the girl home’. 

“You know what, Matt, I’ll pay for the ice cream! And I can help you with your homework, if it helps any!” Pidge offered after looking up from their phone, their composure stiffening just a bit. They weren’t the best actor, but they were good enough that Matt didn’t notice anything was off. He hummed in thought. 

“Alright, fine. But I don’t really need your help, Pidge, you just enjoy solving the problems yourself.” Matt responded and Keith felt a heavy burden lift off of his shoulders. If they managed to keep Matt in the ice cream store long enough, then Allura would be out of the apartment by the time they got home. 

“C’mon, you know you’re too stupid to do it yourself.” Pidge chimed in and Matt shot them a disgruntled look. This banter continued all the way toward the ice cream shop and Keith sighed with relief that they were able to get out of the sticky situation without much issue. 

They each got ice cream in bowls and ate it at their own pace. As Matt and Pidge bantered about the homework they insisted they help him on, Keith ate his ice cream. Content to just watch them argue. His and Shiro’s relationship had never been the bickering kind, but it was always entertaining watching the Holt brothers argue, since they definitely didn’t mean it.

Throughout the next hour, Keith texted Shiro telling them they had a while before they would get back and that he shouldn’t hold Allura up for too long. After lots of pestering and some insistence from Shiro, the older of the two finally relented, saying that Allura wanted to stop by her place for something before they went out to wherever they were going.

This was thirty minutes before the trio finally finished their ice cream and started back toward Matt’s car.

“Alright, now I definitely should be heading back.” Matt muttered as they left the shop. Keith felt himself break into a yawn before nodding in agreement. Pidge just scoffed and crossed their arms over their chest.

“Please, I could stay up for several more hours.” They claimed triumphantly as the group walked in a full line down the empty mall. There were only twenty minutes before it closed, so it had already begun to empty out. 

“I could too, but it’s not a very good idea.” Keith responded before ruffling Pidge’s hair and getting a grumbly sound in response. Having grown up as close as Shiro and Matt were, the act of messing with Pidge physically was one Keith could get away with. Sure, they responded like a wild animal being man-handled, but it wasn’t much different to the way they reacted to Matt. Now someone like Lance, on the other hand….

The roads weren’t very empty, but they weren’t packed. Teenagers strolled the sidewalks on their way to locations meant for late night hanging out. After nine o’clock at night, the thugs broke out and the slightly more normal teens cooped up inside. Whether this was with other friends or alone depended on the teen. Pidge and Keith were the cooping up kind and that was where they were headed.

Pulling into the parking lot to the apartment complex was no problem and Keith felt himself falling asleep as they walked toward the stairs to the apartment. Having a third floor apartment sometimes made for an annoying trek, but Keith had been conditioned by the Galra Academy soccer coach, he could manage better than Matt or Pidge.

Which was why he was the first to run into Shiro and a tall woman on the second floor landing.

Quietly he cursed under his breath right as Pidge appeared behind him, muttering a far cruder word, with Matt popping up only moments later.

“Guys what’s the hold up?” Matt questioned, having to lean over the railing to see passed Keith. He grinned like a silly school girl when he saw Shiro. “Oh, hey Shiro, what’s-“ But he stopped talking the instant he saw Allura.

She was tall and graceful looking, as if she did ballet. Her hair was done up in some complicated bun of some kind and she wore a knee length evening dress and carried a sparkly purse. Her thin ears were adorned with shiny earrings that matched the necklace around her neck. Shiro matched her dress with his tie as if they were headed to prom. 

“Oh, hey guys! We took a little longer to leave than we thought we would. Now that you’re here, we can talk!” Shiro didn’t even notice the way Matt ducked behind Pidge to hide his face, or the way Pidge and Keith exchanged nervous glances as Shiro turned around and ushered Allura back up the steps.

Once everyone was inside the apartment, the entire room grew uncomfortably silent. Shiro was the only one who hadn’t read the tension in the air. 

“So, this is my younger brother, Keith, my best friend, Matt, and Pidge, his younger sibling.” Shiro introduced, waving a hand in the direction of the person he was talking about. Allura forced her best smile on as she offered a hand to shake for Keith and Pidge. When she came to Matt, she hesitated. The taller Holt hadn’t looked up and everyone but Shiro could tell he was holding something back.

“I’m sorry,” she started, addressing Matt at first but turning to Shiro when she continued to speak, “do you think we could stop by my place now? I don’t want to hold us up much longer.” Her accent was elegant, like her appearance, and even Keith felt himself finding her attractive. 

“Oh, yeah, sure. I just hoped you guys could get to know each other better.” Shiro responded, his excited expression clearly deflating as Allura turned toward the door, looking back with an expression of apology on her face. 

“Maybe next time?” Shiro offered, and Allura paused longer in the door, clearly at a loss for what to say. This time, Keith stepped in.

“Shiro, that’s not a good idea.” This made his brother turn abruptly, expression going from disappointed to angry within seconds. Shiro had immediately decided to take Keith’s statement the wrong way.

“Keith, don’t be rude. You only just met her.” Shiro sounded very much like a dad when he spoke to Keith like that and it was times like this that Keith wished Shiro was better at acting like an older brother.

“That’s…not what I meant.” Keith hesitated to finish this sentence, knowing very well what Shiro would ask next and looking toward Pidge for help when he did.

“Then what did you mean?” He asked, no longer heading toward the door. Pidge was also at a loss for words and it wasn’t until Matt finally said something that anyone moved.

“I think…I think I’m going to go to bed.” He said, voice quiet and almost inaudible. He continued to hide his face as he left the room but there was a clear shaky intake of breath as he turned to leave.

“What’s his problem?” Shiro asked, still defensive over Allura. Pidge followed after their brother, not saying anything. Keith’s gaze followed after them before he turned to look at Shiro. He felt the need to give his brother a disapproving look, but he knew Shiro was at a loss, being the dense idiot he was. It wasn’t like Matt had lacked communication, it was just that he had never got up the courage to tell Shiro. And then this had happened. It was just a case of bad timing.

“I’ll explain it to you later. Go, have fun.” Keith muttered, turning to head into his bedroom. Shiro didn’t move immediately but turned back toward Allura after Keith shut the door behind him. There were muffled voices and Keith felt himself smile when he heard what Allura said. 

“You know what, I’m getting tired. Maybe you can just drop me off at my house and call it a night?” There was a grunt from Shiro at this and Keith knew his brother wasn’t going to be happy when he got home.

\---

There was a moment of silence after Keith had finished the story. He had explained Matt’s crush to Shiro after he had dropped Allura off, having gotten permission from a very, very upset Matt through sobs. 

“What a jerk.” Lance muttered after the silence had settled for a while. Keith turned to Lance to snap at him, but Hunk beat him to the punch in a much better fashion.

“Lance, it isn’t Shiro’s fault he didn’t know. I mean, I feel bad for Matt and all, but Keith said Matt knew Shiro was oblivious. Shiro had no commitment to him and, well, they just had bad timing.” Hunk explained as they stood there, outside Lance’s house. They had been there for several minutes as Keith finished the story. The Asian teen had expected the walk to take longer and so had dragged on his story. But Lance and Hunk really did live surprisingly close to the school.

“That’s just a bunch of bull. Matt should have just told him years ago.” Lance huffed, crossing his arms over his chest in an angry manner. 

“You don’t know the Holt’s very well. They’re not very rash, and Matt is the shiest of the bunch. Even their parents took a while to finally realize they were in love. It’s a sweet, yet agonizing, story.” Keith pointed out, Hunk nodding in understanding while Lance refused to move from his point. 

“So, why was Shiro mad? Shouldn’t he be, I don’t know, upset or depressed?” Hunk asked, and Keith shrugged. Both he and Pidge were at a loss for the explanation to that very question. Shiro had been angry all weekend, refusing to even be in the room with Matt.

“We’re not sure. Pidge thinks it’s because Matt kept quiet, I think it’s because Shiro knew what he would have said.” Keith responded, his voice thoughtful as the considered what he and Pidge had already discussed over the matter.

“’What he would have said’?” Lance questioned and Keith looked up, an expression of confusion on his face when he didn’t initially understand Lance’s question. Once he understood his face looked surprised.

“Shiro’s straight. He hasn’t ever looked at a guy in that way. They’re all just friends to him. He even took a good year to get used to me coming out.” Keith responded and Lance felt his heart skip a beat. What the heck was that? 

“Ouch.” Hunk muttered, looking down at his feet as he thought about it. Keith felt the same way. Matt not only knew Shiro was straight, but he had persisted with the stupid crush for years, knowing full well what Shiro would say when he found out. Keith’s theory was that Shiro was angry because Matt could have moved on and been happy years ago. Shiro hated watching people he cared about hold themselves back.

For several moments they were silent before Lance finally shrugged and turned toward his house.

“Well, that was all I wanted to know. Now, let’s get crackin’ on that math project.” Lance said, waving to Hunk as he trekked across his front lawn toward the house. 

“See you guys later.” Hunk called, turning to head toward his own house and up the front path toward the door. Keith followed behind Lance, hesitating to step on the nice, green grass. It was the end of summer, the final heat wave, and yet the grass was beautiful as if they were in the middle of spring. 

“Fair warning, my family will love you.” Lance called behind himself as Keith jogged to catch up. The darker skinned teen dug his key from his pocket and slid it into the lock in the door.

“You hate me. How do you know your family will love me?” Keith asked as Lance froze with his hand on the doorknob.

“Oh, they love everyone.” He responded before pushing the door open. It had a noisy hinge that seemed to alert the entire household of his arrival. 

The first thing Keith heard was thumping.

It turned out the sound was from three pairs of small feet racing toward the front door, barreling right into Lance. If he hadn’t been prepared for it, the taller teen would have fallen over. It seemed this was normal, since Lance was more than prepared for it.

“Lance! Lance, you have to see the picture I drew!” A small girl shouted, her tiny voice carrying rather loudly. It seemed to be a McClain family trait. This was further enforced when a small boy, slightly bigger than the girl, shouted up at Lance.

“Come play Legos with me! I can build the airplane now!” He exclaimed, tugging at the sleeve of Lance’s sweatshirt. A third, and yet taller child, tugged at Lance’s duffle bag. 

“Lance, Mama said you would help me with my homework.” He whined, his voice much more timid than his younger siblings’ and yet, still louder than Keith expected.

“Of course I’ll look at the picture you drew, Sophia. Sorry, Marcus, Carlos, but I have homework to work on and I have to start it now.” Lance responded and the two boys groaned in disappointment. Sophia was elated and began to drag Lance down the hall right as Lance’s brothers turned their expressions toward Keith.

“Who’s this?” The older of the two asked, walking over to Keith and looking up at him as if sizing him up. The younger one came over as well, walking in a circle around Keith as if seeing him from behind would help him understand Keith.

“This is Keith. He’s the reason I have to start homework now. We’re working on a project.” Lance explained, reaching over heads and tugging at Keith’s sleeve to get him to follow. Careful not to step on feet, Keith did as he was silently instructed and headed toward the sounds of dishes clanking and a radio playing. 

The music was entirely unfamiliar to Keith and he realized, as he approached, that it was because it was entirely in Spanish. The full scene where these noises arose from came into few as the wall to his right disappeared and a full sized kitchen came into view. There was a short woman standing behind a pot on the stove, humming along to the music as she stirred the pot, looked into it, and then turned back around to wash the dishes left in the sink. As she completed this action, she turned to find Lance entering with three little children around is ankles and Keith trailing warily behind them all.

“Lance! I’m glad you’re back!” The woman, obviously Lance’s mom, reached her arms up and the children dispersed to allow Lance an easier time to reach his mom. She cupped his face between his hands and gave him a kiss before turning toward the others and noticing Keith.

“Who’s this?” She asked, looking Keith up and down in a similar manner to the older of the two boys. Keith felt a strange feeling well up inside of him and realized it was a mix of discomfort and worry. Why was he worried what this woman thought?

“Mama, this is Keith. We’re working on a project in math class and he needed to come over.” Lance explained and the woman turned back to Lance, a disappointed look in her eye.

Then she began to speak in Spanish.

Keith hadn’t taken Spanish in high school, instead having taken Japanese to better know his own roots. What he hear was nothing compared to what the gossiping Latina’s did at school. She wasn’t angry, per se, she just sounded curious. Lance responded in Spanish and she nodded as if in understanding.

Keith was completely lost as she waved him off toward his room and made some other off handed comment, winking at him as she turned back to resume her chores. Lance, spluttering, shot back at her in Spanish before grabbing Keith’s sleeve and taking the stairs two at a time. 

Before Keith knew it, he was in Lance’s room, door shut behind him. He was still running what he had seen through his mind, attempting to make sense of it. Lance threw his bags onto the ground and then fell backward onto his bed. 

“I told you, my family is very friendly.” Lance muttered, snapping Keith out of the daze he had found himself in. Glancing down he realized Lance had propped himself up onto his bed with his elbows to look at Keith. “You can put your stuff down. Anywhere’s fine.”

Keith did as he was instructed and found there was s surprising amount of space for it on Lance’s floor. The room was actually very clean, the desk being the only exception was piles of clutter on its surface.

“Let’s get started, shall we?” Lance asked, reaching for his bag and dragging the math homework out of it. “Have a seat.” He gestured toward the chair at the desk and Keith swung it around, grabbing his own workbook from his backpack.

They worked for what felt like an hour which ended up being only half an hour before a loud bang came from Lance’s door, making Keith jump but not phasing Lance in the slightest. Before Lance could say anything, the door swung open and a middle school aged girl strutted her way in, mouth moving a mile a minute before the door had even opened.

“Lance, stop making out with your boyfriend! Dinner’s ready.” She said, as if she had meant to call it through the door but the door had only happened to open. Lance’s face was instantly red and Keith felt it reflected well what he looked like. “Ooh, he is cute. Mama was right.” The girl said, putting one hand on her hip as she turned to look Keith up and down. Flushing an even deeper shade of red, he turned back to Lance, at a loss for how to respond. Luckily, Lance had that covered.

“Carmen, he’s not my boyfriend. Tell Mama I’ll be down in a bit.” Lance said, launching himself to his feet and pushing her out the door. She shot something behind her but it was drowned in Lance’s attempts to shut her up. Lance didn’t even bother to shut the door as Keith gathered his things and stood.

“My mom will probably offer to have you stay for dinner.” Lance informed him and Keith chuckled. Lance appeared to have conflicting emotions over that response, but Keith didn’t bother to try and read them.

“I’ll just head home.” Keith said and Lance shrugged, heading down the hallway and toward the stairs with Keith following behind him. Mrs. McClain did as Lance said she would, this time with her husband helping her out.

“You should stay! I made plenty!” She called as Keith headed toward the door, Lance following slowly behind him as if he was going to show him out. Keith waved her off, smiling.

“Thank you, but I really should be getting home.” Keith responded and she sighed, disappointed, but not ready to push it too hard. Keith was glad of that.

“Lance can drive you home.” His dad offered and Lance laughed. Keith grinned, hoping he didn’t look as offended as he felt that Lance laughed at the offer.

“It’s fine, I can walk. I don’t mind.” Keith said and the two of them attempted to press it as he and Lance headed toward the front door.

“See you in class tomorrow.” Lance said and Keith waved as he jogged down the front lawn toward the street. The door shut with a loud creak behind him and he was suddenly closed off from the noisy, McClain world. He almost felt relieved to be away from the noise.

As he walked he immediately regretted denying the offer of a ride. The walk to his apartment from Lance’s house was long and tiring. When he finally got home, he barely had the strength to take the stairs and when he reached the top, all he found inside was Pidge at the table, doing their homework. 

“Where are they?” Keith asked, feeling like the silence was going to close in on him. After Lance’s house, he wished he could have something as wonderful and loud as what they had. It felt more homely than this did.

“Their rooms.” Pidge muttered in response, clearly disgruntled by this. There was something on the stove in a pot and Keith took a small bite off the spoon that had been left in it, only to find it cold and becoming hard. With a sigh, Keith trekked to his room and set down his stuff, deciding he would just make himself ramen for the night. 

As he ate across from Pidge, he realized how desperately he wanted to have stayed for dinner at Lance’s house.


	5. Done Right

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first game of the season with a new team and Keith still doesn't understand how it works.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did some research on soccer for this chapter. Also, Lance insecurities show up in here with a tad bit of anxiety.

It was finally the first game of the season and Lance was pumped and ready to kick butt. After all those practices leading up to the first game, Lance had gotten antsy and anxious, annoying Keith more than he had ever done before. Granted, Lance had earned a little more respect in Keith’s book, especially after meeting his family, Keith still wasn’t ready to completely accept that they got along. Because they didn’t.

“I bet I’ll make more goals than you!” Lance challenged Keith as they got onto the bus to be brought to the location the game was to be held at. Keith had hoped Lance would drop the competition act when they finally had a game, but so far it wasn’t looking like that would be the case.

“We’re on the same team, Lance. We shouldn’t be competing.” Keith responded, hoping he game off as indifferent as he wanted. Getting angry at Lance now was not going to be good for their teamwork. If there was infighting during the game because of Lance’s stupid competitive spirit, the team might not work together as well.

“Yeah, but we might make more goals this way. Think about it: not only are we determined to beat the other team, but determined to beat each other! If we both make goals against each other, but in the same goal, then we’re just racking up the points for our team!” Lance exclaimed, trotting up to catch up to where Keith was on the bus. It had become habit long ago to roll his eyes at Lance the instant he started talking. Keith didn’t even need to hear what his teammate was saying, he knew it was stupid.

“Lance, it’s a stupid idea. Just stick to working with the rest of the team.” Keith responded with a huff as he took a seat in the back of the bus. Lance seemed to freeze where he was for a moment, expression fuming over Keith’s words. It didn’t take long, however, for him to turn around and find where Hunk had settled himself. If Lance really did drop the whole competition thing, then they would probably have this game in the bag.

The bus ride to the school where they would be competing wasn’t very long and was only slightly delayed due to traffic. When they finally arrived, Keith was relieved to get off of the noisy bus. Bus rides to Galra games had been silent and contemplative, not full of hype and energy. 

“We’re going to win this game! First game of the season!” The shout came from somewhere ahead of Keith, one of the freshmen on the JV team shouting excitedly in response as he got off the bus. Both teams played back to back, JV first and then varsity. Keith was glad he would be allowed to sit and think just a little longer before the game actually started.

The team approached the field, Shiro in the lead, and Keith took in a breath of relief, the familiar feeling of the game washing over him. Voltron’s home field had no bleachers, so they often borrowed the field from one of the local high schools. Considering they were playing against that high school in this game, it was called an away game. The next match against this team was likely to be a home game, but at the same field. 

It was a little odd to Keith, going to another field for home games. Galra had its own field, complete with Olympic worthy bleachers that could fit the whole school if they bothered to come. Many did, but there was always space for those that didn’t. The field they would be playing on was nice, but it wasn’t as nice as Galra’s.

“You pumped to kick butt, Keith?” Lance came up behind Keith, making him jump from the shock. Luckily, Lance didn’t seem to notice and instead slung an arm around Keith’s shoulder, nonchalantly leaning into him.

“Get off me.” Keith muttered, picking up Lance’s hand off of his shoulder and pushing him away. “Yeah, sure, I’m excited to play. Now leave me alone.” Keith grumbled in response, walking ahead of Lance to catch up with Shiro. Lance watched him go, pouty lip protruding to show his disappointment. 

“What’s his problem?” Lance asked aloud, not addressing anyone in particular. Hunk came up beside him and gave him a firm clap on the shoulder, not startling Lance at all. He had grown used to it.

“Maybe he just doesn’t get as excited for games? We all have our own way of reacting.” Hunk responded and Lance shrugged. 

“He’ll be pumped soon, I can guarantee it.” Lance claimed, picking his feet up and entering a jog to catch up with the rest of the team. Hunk left the hurrying to his quick footed friend and simply walked the rest of the way to where the team had stopped and were setting their things down. 

Lance dropped his bag at the benches and excitedly pumped up the JV team, talking to them as if he were their coach. They received the enthusiasm well and soon were more pumped than they had been when they arrived. Laughing, Shiro calmed them down a bit and took Lance’s spot as their actual coach to instruct them on what they needed to remember.

Lance took a seat on the bench next to Keith, who had his head ducked and a knee bouncing. Lance clapped a heavy hand onto his shoulder, making Keith jump yet again.

“Can you stop doing that?” Keith demanded through a hiss. Lance simply chuckled good-heartedly and shook his head.

“C’mon, Keith. You should be psyched!” Lance exclaimed, throwing his arms around dramatically as he spoke. Keith groaned and shook his head, dropping his face back down toward the ground to ignore Lance better.

“Not all of us are as peppy as you.” He muttered toward the ground, trying his best to ignore Lance when the darker skinned teen proceeded to further infuse Keith with his enthusiasm. When this didn’t work, Lance turned to cheer on the JV team as they played their game. 

JV was always so cute to play, and Lance felt especially excited to watch because it was his first season as a starter on the varsity team. He didn’t have to play with his JV friends even though he still desperately wished he could join them. 

Lance’s enthusiastic cheers interrupted Keith’s thinking process as he reminded himself of the things he needed to improve on and focus on during the game. Every time he thought he had created a good plan, Lance would scream the name of one of the players and jump up and down enthusiastically, shaking the bench when he sat back down. 

There was no room for thought as Keith listened to the JV game unfold. It was extremely safe, the JV players acted as if they didn’t want any penalties or flags. It was amusing when they did get penalties because they would freak out, trying very hard not to attack the ref about it. 

The JV game felt shorter than it was and Keith was relieved when it was finally over. The mopey JV trudged toward the bench where Lance gave them all high fives and an enthusiastic ‘good job’ before heading toward Shiro for the varsity run down. 

“Alright guys. This is it. We’re finally playing the first game. Remember what we’ve been practicing, keep in mind what we know about the other team, and have a little fun while you’re out there.” Shiro said, giving the entire team a grin before putting his hand in the middle so they could do their team yell. 

It hadn’t been very long since Shiro’s ordeal over the weekend but he had relaxed on blowing up at the team, though he still avoided Matt like he had personally offended him. Still, it was very nice to have a coach that didn’t get angry at them just because he was in a bad mood.

Though Keith was a little put off by the super cheery attitude.

Jogging out toward the field, he watched as Lance practically skipped toward his position on the far side of the field. Despite being new to Voltron’s team, Shiro had designated Keith as the receiver of the kick off. He stood just outside the circle as the team captains joined each other in center circle. Quickly they shook hands, not even waiting for the ref to show up to do so. They even seemed to talk lightly to each other laughing a bit as they did so.

When the captain of the opposing team glanced lazily around he spotted Keith and froze. What he said next was loud enough for Keith to hear.

“Yo, that’s Keith Kogane. What’s he doin’ on your team?” He asked, looking between Voltron’s captain and Keith, who was just a little confused about how this guy knew him. It was probably similar to the situation with Lance. So many people knew who he was because they had played against him, but he had paid no attention to who he was playing against because it had never been important to him. 

“He transferred schools.” The captain responded, not seeming to know how else to expand on it. Shiro had never told them that it had been his adopting Keith that initiated the transfer, but had simply left that part out. So the captain didn’t really have anything else to say. 

“Huh. I suppose Galra will be an easier opponent then.” He commented as the ref finally reached them with the ball and the coin. Keith hadn’t even thought much about Galra being weaker because he wasn’t on the team. He had always figure that, with the teamwork they put into the game, they were strong as a whole. Had he been the only real player on the team?

“Keith. Hey, get your head on straight, man, we’re starting.” Keith snapped his head up at the sound of his captain’s voice. He had completely spaced out and they had ended up winning the coin toss. Why were they starting, then? Galra always chose the second half when they won the coin toss. How they started the game wasn’t nearly as important as how they ended it. 

“Right, sorry.” Keith muttered, jogging into position as the other captain left the center circle to join his team. For a couple of seconds they waited for the ref to start the game with the whistle, the captain patiently holding the ball under his foot. 

Then the whistle blew.

Keith took the ball the instant the captain kicked it to him and dribbled it back onto their side of the field, where he was joined by Lance close by. Keith could have sworn Lance had been told to stay on his side of the field, so he sent Lance a look that told him to back off before he dribbled the ball toward the other end of the field, being followed by a few midfielders and lead by the captain, who was already in amongst their opponent.

The game consisted of long stretches of time in which no one made a goal. Keith would pass it around the team to the captain and the midfielders, avoiding Lance to keep him off of his back. More often than not, the ball was taken right before it reached the goal and the opposing team would dribble it quickly toward their goal.

With his speed and strategy, Keith was quick to reach the end and take the ball back, where he would repeat the same thing on the opposing side near the goal. It was twenty minutes into the first half when they finally made a goal. Lance had been the one to steal the ball back and take it all the way down to the other end of the field. He was completely surrounded by the opposing team with his teammates surrounding them in attempts to help Lance out.

Somehow the tall teen managed to play the ball around their feet and break through them, slipping the ball into the goal low and fast. The goalie had no idea what had hit him until Lance was shouting in excitement. Even Keith had to say he hadn’t expected that, but he still felt a little put out that Lance hadn’t taken any of the help they had been offering. 

The next goal was only minutes from theirs, but it was their opponents that scored it. The ball had been slipped from the feet of their captain and kicked toward one of the opposite teams forwards, who proceeded to race the ball toward the other end, Voltron’s whole team on the wrong side of the field. Immediately, both Keith and Lance were there in response, Lance only seconds behind Keith. 

Keith made it in time to watch the defenders in front of Hunk trying to hold off the forward from the other team. This was their chance to get the ball back and head down the field. However, in the instant Keith thought this, Lance shot passed him in a short burst of adrenaline and slid the ball away from the forward and right into the waiting kick of one of his teammates, who shot the ball straight into the goal where Hunk hadn’t expected it to go. 

Growling, Keith approached Lance with an angry look, holding back from slapping him on the back of the head.

“Think before you act, idiot.” Keith grumbled at him before they all set up for the next kick off. Lance huffed in response as the game resumed play. They spent the rest of the first half juggling back and forth between teams. There was a moment when Lance repeated the first goal attempt, but this time was stopped, tripping over the line on the field. 

Keith watched him push himself up and rejoin the team, catching his eye and giving him a disapproving shake of the head before turning back toward the game. Stealing the ball back he heard the whistle for the end of the first half and the fifteen minute half time started. The team headed toward the benches where water waited for them and Shiro stood by to give tips and improvements. 

Chugging almost a whole water bottle, Keith took a sidelong glance at Lance, who had grass stains all the way up his arm from the fall. Grunting at this, he turned toward his teammate with a huff.

“You don’t think a lot, do you?” Keith asked, Lance almost choking on his water when Keith’s voice startled him. Lance turned toward him, his competitive expression not nearly as present, replaced instead by fake hurt. 

“Excuse me? I think a lot, thank you very much.” Lance responded sarcastically, throwing one hand on a hip for dramatic flair. The response almost seemed forced, but Keith didn’t notice and kept going.

“Then why do you keep making stupid moves? You need to remember that we’re all a team here. Pass it to one of us if you don’t think you can get out.” Keith suggested, putting down the bottle of water before heading over to where Shiro was talking with some of the other members of the team. 

When they resumed play, the other team kicked it off and scored a goal within minutes of the first half. Keith kicked himself for not seeing the play coming as they all readied for the next kick off. This time they were able to extend the play for a little bit longer before the other team stole the ball back and headed toward their end of the field. Keith raced after them, but Lance had been faster to react and was already on the ball when he shot a foot forward to kick the ball to the defender they were approaching.

Both boys tripped.

Lance dropped to the ground with a thud, rolling twice before coming to a stop. The opposing team member flew face first toward the ground, barely managing to catch himself with his hands before rolling onto his butt and collecting himself. 

A yellow flag was called.

Now Keith knew Lance didn’t think because there he was, just having tripped their opponent, and earning them a free shot. Jogging slowly toward Lance, Keith shot out a hand, offering to help him stand up. 

“Thanks, man.” Lance muttered, taking the hand after the shock on his face wore off. He hadn’t expected Keith to help him up. Keith took a firm stance and pulled, helping Lance to his feet and then drawing him in close to talk in his ear before Lance walked away.

“That could have been a red flag, Lance. You should know better than to trip people.” Keith said, letting him go when he had finished his piece. The hurt expression on Lance’s face was only a small shock, but Keith didn’t really care. Lance had made a stupid move.

“I didn’t trip him on purpose.” He protested and Keith rolled his eyes before walking away to prepare for the kick. Lance followed behind, spouting all sorts of nonsense about how he hadn’t done it on purpose and he had only intended to take the ball. Keith didn’t believe a word of it, just watched as the kick was made and missed. 

Lance was lucky the guy that kicked wasn’t a good shot. 

Play resumed then and the game continued. Keith managed to score a single goal ten minutes before the game ended and then the captain succeeded in getting one in before the last minute, winning Voltron the game. Keith had noticed a lack of Lance in the last half of the game after the penalty and he felt relieved that the guy knew when to back off. 

The team gathered around Shiro in celebration, a few people from the stands jumping over the railings to join them.

“Keith! Keith!” The sound of his name in a very loud voice came from somewhere behind Shiro and the throng of people around him. Keith had no idea who was calling, but since he couldn’t see the source of the voice, he had a pretty good idea who it was. Turning toward the sound he pushed through the crowd until he saw little tufts of brown hair bobbing between two of his teammates. 

“Pidge! Hey, you came to the game!”Keith exclaimed when Pidge finally came into full view, a puppy dog Matt following behind with his tail tucked between his legs. Crowds were never something either Holt could handle well, but Pidge was better at brushing them off it was for a good cause.

“Of course we did! We’d never miss it!” Pidge exclaimed, jumping on Keith when there was finally enough room to fling their arms out to grab Keith around the torso. Keith had gotten used to random Pidge hugs and had grown to appreciate them when they came. When he finally was let go he looked up to find Matt still staring at the ground. The difference between his being scared and the look he had on now was the missing fire in his eyes. There was no real determination to get out.

“Hey, thanks for coming, Matt. I know it had to have been hard.” Keith said, getting the older Holt’s attention by looking him in the eyes. Matt looked up at this and a small smile appeared on his face. 

“You and Shiro are still my friends. I would never miss a game.” And it was true. Matt had never once missed a game coached by Shiro and he had only missed a Galra game when he’d gotten into a car accident on the way there. Pidge had missed plenty of games, but they said that they preferred watching things from the quiet of their room. But they sure were enthusiastic when they came.

“Hey, where are Lance and Hunk? I wanted to congratulate them on a great first game as well!” Pidge exclaimed, jumping up and down in attempts to find their two other friends. Keith had completely forgotten Pidge was friends with Hunk. Lance hung around with them too, apparently, though he wasn’t sure what Pidge’s feelings toward the boisterous forward were. 

“I don’t know. Lance is probably off boasting about his goal.” Keith replied, waving it off as if it was nothing for him to just spend his time flirting with girls and telling them how awesome he was. Which was him virtually all the time. Pidge grunted and the look on Matt’s face said he had a hard time believing that.

“I’m sure he’s celebrating with his team somewhere.” Matt pointed out and Keith sighed, realizing he was right. Lance had been so enthusiastic even when the JV team had lost. His super supportive attitude and fun loving enthusiasm had eaten them up and their loss hadn’t felt nearly as bad. They were even openly cheering for varsity’s win even though they could have easily been pouting about their loss.

“Fine. I’ll see if I can find him. Don’t move, or I might lose you two.” Keith muttered, getting a scoff and a lazy punch from Pidge at the attempt at a short joke. Keith maneuvered his way through the crowd to where he could see Shiro standing with the majority of his team members. They were squirming and swarming him as if they had won districts and were going on to state. It was only the first game. 

“Shiro! Hey, have you seen Lance and Hunk?” Keith called over the noise, getting Shiro’s attention by tapping him on the shoulder. Shiro shrugged and then began looking around. His eyes scanned the faces of the team members around him and their family and friends gathering as well. After a while his head stopped moving and he pointed to the far side of the field.

“There’s Hunk. You might be able to find Lance if you ask him.” Shiro replied, pointing to the other side of the field where Keith could see the small figure of Hunk disappearing behind the bleachers. Confused, but relieved to have found them, Keith thanked Shiro before breaking free of the crowd and heading toward the spot where he had seen Hunk disappear, jogging the whole way there.

As he approached the bleachers he slowed to a trot and then a walk, reaching out a hand to press against the side of the cold metal so he could swing around the side of them with ease. 

But then he heard crying.

Stopping, blood freezing in his veins, Keith chose to listen before approaching whoever was back there. Maybe Hunk hadn’t followed Lance behind the bleachers and it was someone else.

“I could help if you talk to me.” Hunk whispered, his voice far more soothing than usual. There was an adamant sound of disagreement and Keith heard Hunk sigh, leaving the noise level behind the bleachers to drop to nothing as the sound from the cheering crowd began to die as well. 

“Lance, I really wish I could help. It scares me when you’re like this.” Hunk muttered and Keith felt his blood freeze over a second time. It really was Lance back there. Hunk was talking to Lance who was crying. What was wrong with him?

“I know. I’m-I’m sorry Hunk. I wish I could be better.” Lance muttered, shaky sobs making his voice crack and warble. There was the sound of someone readjusting their position and Keith imagined Hunk turning to look at Lance.

“What are you talking about? You’re just fine. Everyone deserves to freak out sometimes. I just want to help you get through this, that’s all.” Hunk responded, sounding very much as afraid as he had said he was earlier. Keith could feel the same emotion washing over him.

“Obviously I’m not fine! Keith wouldn’t have been yelling at me the whole game if I was.” Lance protested, and Keith took a step back, preparing to leave them be. Something stopped him in his tracks, though, and he remained where he was.

“What do you mean? Keith didn’t act any different than he usually does during games.” Hunk pointed out and Keith wondered what he had looked like to his opponents. Did he seem ruthless and cruel? Based on Lance’s reaction to his actions during the game, that must have been the case.

“He kept calling me stupid and telling me I don’t think. Which I know is true, I just can’t-can’t stop.” Lance responded, the end of his sentence being broken up by the renewal of the sobs. The sounds of Lance’s shaky breaths became muffled and Keith wondered if Hunk had pulled him in for a hug.

“Lance, that’s not true. You were doing as awesome as you always do. Keith’s just not used to the way Voltron operates.” Hunk comforted his friend and Keith suddenly felt as if he was intruding on a special moment. Something he had caused. 

“B-but Keith’s right, Hunk! Keith’s right! I have no use being on this team. Why did Shiro even make me a starter? I’m so stupid.” Lance protested, voice muffled by Hunk’s uniform. This was the moment Keith chose to turn and walk away. He shouldn’t be listening to this. Lance sounded far more upset than he should be. Why did he take what Keith said so badly? Why was he protesting what Hunk was telling him when, obviously, Hunk knew him better than anyone? 

Keith mused these thoughts, aware that he probably looked like he had seen a ghost. The crowd had thinned out and the team was starting to make its way back to the bus. When Pidge and Mat spotted Keith crossing back toward them, the smaller Holt broke into a jog to catch him.

“Hey, Keith. Did you find them?” Pidge asked before slowing their jog abruptly to a halt. “Uh, Keith, what’s wrong?” Pidge asked when Keith stopped a few feet away, not even looking at Pidge. When Matt approached and repeated the question, Keith finally looked up and both Holt’s became suddenly more concerned. 

“Where’s Shiro?” Keith asked and the two of them turned without hesitation and looked for the tall, muscular coach.

“Um, over there talking to the other coach. What’s wrong, Keith?” Matt responded, turning back to Keith after he had spotted Shiro. Keith ignored the third time the question had been asked and, instead, jogged up to where Shiro was, grabbing his arm and taking his attention away from the other coach.

“Shiro.” He said, looking up toward his brother with the same fear he had been feeling for the last minute. 

“Keith, can you wait a bit?” Shiro asked, only glancing slightly at Keith before turning to apologize quickly to the other coach. Keith didn’t let go.

“Shiro.” He repeated and this time Shiro looked him right in the eyes and froze. He knew his brother better than Keith even knew himself sometimes and knew right away that something was up. 

“I’m sorry, maybe we can continue this at a later date?” Shiro asked and the coach nodded, telling Shiro to just contact him at his office. When the man had finally walked away, Shiro turned toward Keith and looked him in the eyes.

“What’s up?” He asked, his expression concerned and concentrating on Keith’s. The smaller of the two looked away, not sure what to say.

“I found Hunk and Lance. They’re behind the bleachers back there. But…Lance was…he was crying? And he was beating himself up over the game? I…I think I broke him, Shiro.” Keith said, finally looking back up at Shiro when he finished the sentence. Shiro’s concerned expression turned into realization and Keith felt even more confused.

“It’s okay, Keith. Lance is fine. I can help, can you show me where they are?” Shiro instructed, taking on the brotherly tone but in a slightly motherly way. Part of Keith felt a little better that Shiro understood the situation, but at the same time he wanted to know what was going on.

“Shiro, what did I do?” Keith asked, watching as Shiro headed to where he had pointed. Shiro turned for a second and rested a hand on Keith’s shoulder.

“It’s fine, Keith. Lance always gets anxious around game time. It’s been a while since it’s been this bad, but it’s not you.” Shiro responded, trying to sound reassuring. Keith was sure he would have felt better if it wasn’t for the fact that Lance wasn’t worked up over the whole game.

“But, Shiro. He said it was me. I called him and idiot and told him he wasn’t thinking.” Keith said and Shiro nodded, understanding completely.

“Keith, it’ll be fine. Just go join the rest of the team on the bus.” Shiro said before turning to walk toward the bleachers. Keith watched him go before turning to the rest of the team and grabbing his things. He was really concerned he had done something wrong. He’d said those kinds of things to most of his teammates when they weren’t thinking straight or had made a dumb move. Most of them time they told him to back off or agreed that they hadn’t been thinking. Sure, his tactics had never been ideal, but no one had ever reacted this badly. Keith was really worried.

What had he done?


	6. Yelling Match

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and Lance have to continue working on the project a few days after the game. It doesn't exactly go as planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My chapter titles are so unoriginal. Also, this chapter is much shorter than the others.

The room was dead silent compared to the noise outside of it. The tidy floor only had two things sitting on it and it was the bent over forms of two very tired teenage boys. One had a large textbook cracked open, scanning the pages for something he was desperately trying to find. The other scribbled out notes in a small, spiral bound notebook. They made no noise so the very yelling and screaming and laughing from throughout the house could be heard as if they had a radio tuned to the station that played these noises.

What most wouldn’t be able to tell upon first entering was that it was tense.

The air was knit tight with a discomfort one of the two had never felt before. The other could feel it coming, the storm building up inside of his partner. After the game the other day, he knew he was dying to ask. Everyone was always dying to ask about the mental unstable soccer player that cried when he got stressed out. 

Lance knew Keith knew.

Shiro had mentioned that Lance had freaked Keith out on accident. Lance had responded that it had been Keith’s fault he had listened for longer than he needed to. Hunk said Keith had to be worried and that Lance should talk to him. Why did he need to talk to him? Keith had been a jerk the whole game. It had been ages since he had felt so utterly useless. It was all because of Keith. The jerk had told him exactly what he thought of him and it gave Lance fuel. 

That was what Hunk liked to call it. The dear, expert Hunk who had known Lance his whole life and knew exactly how to deal with it. He knew Lance searched desperately for facts based on people’s actions toward him. ‘That person didn’t smile when I made a joke’ or ‘that one didn’t come up and say hi like they normally do’ were a few of the more common ones. Hunk knew these were false and just opinions that Lance’s anxiety fed on. If people acted slightly abnormally, it was because of something Lance had done.

Hunk labeled this as ‘fuel’ because it helped the flame of anxiety inside of Lance grow into a burning inferno. The fuel Keith had given Lance’s anxiety had been enough to burn the Cuban teen from the inside out. He had self destructed. Luckily, he had managed to hold it off until the end of the game. 

Keith had still seen him.

Which was why, sitting in Lance’s bedroom, a whole story above rambunctious laughter and noise, the two sat in a tense silence. Lance knew what Keith was thinking. It was what everyone thought when they first saw him break down. ‘Why’s the idiot crying? It’s nothing to get so worked up about.’ Some people even liked to tell him to shut up, to stop whining, or to get a grip. Every word made it worse and made them angrier. 

Mrs. McClain had worked hard to keep Lance away from those kinds of people. 

Sometimes, they were just too close to home.

“Oh, I think I found that equation we were looking for.” Keith muttered, his voice strained from holding himself back. Lance sighed, brushing it off as his being tired and not the fact that Keith’s dancing around the subject was annoying him. Which it was. It was annoying him so much he felt ready to yell at Keith to get it over with.

“Good, I was wondering if we would ever find it.” Lance responded, pasting on a fake grin and leaning over to look at the textbook where Keith was pointing. There it was, right in plain text. Lance wanted to kick himself for forgetting such a simple equation. Instead, he grabbed the book and wrote it down in his notes, making sure they could add it to their project to improve it.

When he handed the book back, Keith was staring.

It wasn’t the stare he was used to getting from a lot of people. Most people who witnessed a Lance anxiety attack looked at him like some animal at the zoo. He was to be observed and recorded, nothing more. This look he saw from close friends and family. Concern written in every line of the brow, worry sparkling faintly on the pupils, and words ready to pour forth from his lips to comfort Lance. 

Why was Keith, of all people, looking at him like that?

“Lance-“ Keith started, but was cut off when Lance heaved a big sigh and threw his head back, dropping his pencil onto the floor next to him and crossing his arms as he leaned against the bed. 

“Get it over with. Say your bit. I’m tired of watching you stare.” Lance muttered, eyes narrowing at Keith’s look of shock. A lot of people assumed they were being subtle, but they were dealing with anxiety. Lance knew all too well how hyperaware of everything he was and he hated it. A lot of the time he would cry himself to sleep, wishing it would stop or go away. He only wanted to be normal.

“I-what?” Keith sounded confused, which was also a common response from lots of the people Lance spoke with. Lance knew Keith wasn’t an idiot and he would get it, so he didn’t say anything. Keith was smarter than him, after all. 

“Lance, I’m sorry if what I did at the game caused you to….” Keith paused, hands milling absently in the air as he attempted to find the right thing to say. Lance knew how to fill in here, this part was easy.

“Break down? Freak out? Oh, how about ‘cry like a baby’? I haven’t heard that one in a while.” Lance offered, voice hostile and accusing, angry that Keith felt the need to bring it up, that he couldn’t just apologize and move on. Neither of these solutions were well known to work. Lance knew all too well that it just took some quiet, a few reassuring words, and a good friend to make things better. Hunk was always the one there for him.

Too bad this project only involved Keith.

“What? No, no. Stop it. I don’t want to hear you like this.” Keith protested, shifting uncomfortably where he sat. Lance smirked, finding it kind of amusing that he had managed to make Keith uncomfortable. Indestructible Keith Kogane felt uncomfortable around the kid with anxiety. It felt good.

“Like what? Self deprecating? I do it more often than you realize.” Lance grumbled, turning his eyes away from Keith as he admitted this. It sounded like he was proud of it. Of course he wasn’t, it was stupid to be self-destructive. Lance knew one day he was going to seriously injure his mental or emotional state with the things he said or did. 

“So, at glow golf, when I called your rivalry against me an obsession?” Keith asked, hesitating in the question. Lance looked back up at the soft, beautiful eyes of the teenager before him. Despite his hideous mullet, Keith was one of the most attractive people Lance knew. He was beautiful beyond compare and Lance desperately wanted to kiss him. But he knew it was a stupid move to make when Keith hated him the way he did.

“I was trying to get away so you wouldn’t see me freak out.” Lance muttered, looking away again, this time in a disgruntled fashion. Keith seemed to freeze from this response, but Lance wasn’t looking so he didn’t catch the expression on his face. That night, after Keith had called his rivalry an obsession, his voice giving away how stupid he thought it was, Lance had stormed off as if he was angry.

Hunk had followed him where he disappeared down one of the long hallways leading to the bathrooms, crouched near the ground, hands over his ears as if blocking out the memory of what Keith had said. Hunk crouched beside him, said a few calming things only to be shot down by Lance’s own anxiety. Why did he deny what Hunk said? All of it was reasonable and yet, his brain kept insisting it wasn’t and the anxiety took a front seat, driving him toward destruction. It made him angrier and he sobbed harder. At that point, Hunk had stopped talking and simply reached across Lance’s shoulder to bring him in closer.

They had stayed like that for almost an hour after the game of glow golf.

“Lance, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. I want to help. Please, tell me what I can do to help.” Keith sounded almost desperate as he spoke, bringing Lance back from his thoughts. Turning to look over at him he almost cracked at the look in Keith’s eyes. He had seen that look once before. It was the same look Hunk had given him when he had first found out about Lance’s anxiety. 

“I think I have enough help.” Lance muttered, narrowing his eyes further at Keith, who looked surprised by this response. What else did he expect? Lance wasn’t about to open up to him without hesitation. Hunk was all he needed. After this stupid project in math, the two of them didn’t have to interact anymore except occasionally during practices or games. Keith was pointless. 

“Then at least tell me what not to do around you.” Keith insisted, scooting forward slightly to get closer to Lance. The darker teen scooted backward, pressing himself against the side of his bed and looking Keith up and down as if trying to gauge how dangerous he was.

“Don’t be an idiot. Maybe even just stop talking to me entirely.” Lance spat, pushing himself to his feet and dropping his notebook onto his bed. Keith followed suit by standing and closing the textbook before resting it on top of the junk sitting on Lance’s desk. 

“Why do you have to be so standoff-ish? Why am I not allowed to help?” Keith asked, his voice rising slightly as he worded this. Lance turned to glare at Keith, knowing full well he didn’t mean any of what he said seriously. Keith was just being thoughtless as he said words that could easily trigger Lance’s anxiety.

“Because you were the one who started this. Does that help any? So what if I don’t want the jerk who called me stupid to help me solve my problems.” Lance spat, his voice rising as well, turning completely toward Keith so that the smaller teen could see the full force of his anger from the front. Keith didn’t even flinch.

“Don’t you think that’s the reason I should help? So I don’t make it worse? I don’t want to hurt you anymore than I already have.” Keith shouted, causing Lance to scoff and take a step back. His brain completely glossed over the last sentence Keith had said, telling him he meant it was for the good of the team, not just for Lance. If Lance hurt, then the team would get weaker because Hunk would be trying to help him.

“No! You prancing around like you’re the good guy isn’t going to help anyone, especially not me!” Lance yelled back, blue eyes narrowing further, almost to the point of being shut. Neither of them had noticed, but the entire house had gone quiet except for their argument, which continued to escalate into a louder volume with each word said. It was a competition of sound, all of a sudden, and both boys could feel themselves going hoarse from it.

“You won’t know unless you give me-“ Keith started, only to be cut off by Lance.

“I don’t think you get it, Keith-“ It began like this, back and forth, neither finishing their sentences or arguments before the other began to yell back, each one trying to out yell the other to be heard. 

“Of course I don’t get it-“ Keith tried before Lance shouted over him, his sentence being successfully drowned out.

“I don’t want you to get it, you’ll never understand-“ Lance shouted back, being chopped off quickly by Keith, who yelled over top the rest of Lance’s sentence.

“I won’t understand unless you-“ Keith attempted to scream at him before he, once again, was stopped by Lance’s words above his own.

“No one gets it! You’re so stupid! If you would shut up for one second I could-“ Before Lance finished Keith jumped in again, ignoring what Lance was saying entirely, causing the taller teen to bite his lip and hold back the tears threatening to overcome his face. His anxiety had started working overtime in the middle of the argument.

“I’m not stupid, Lance, just give me a-“ Again he was cut off before Lance scream at him, tears beginning to trickle down his cheeks, angry eyes beginning to become red from the force of holding them back.

“I don’t want to give you a chance! You wouldn’t understand even if I tried to explain! I’m stupid I get it! I’m useless, I understand! I’m nothing to anyone and I’d rather keep it that way than become-“ Lance had gotten the longest spiel out of the two of them but was cut off when Keith’s shocked expression turned back to one of anger.

“Lance you are perfect in every single way, why don’t you realize this?” Keith screamed, taking Lance by surprise this time. The darker skinned teen sniffed as the tears streamed down his face some more, his expression of surprise being enhanced by the blush that had begun to creep its way up his cheeks. 

The he saw them.

Tears streamed down Keith’s cheeks as he looked away from Lance, barely giving him a chance to see what was going on. Sniffling, Keith wiped the tears from his face and turned his body completely away from Keith.

“Wait, what do you-?” Lance started, stopping when Keith shot back, voice rough and weak due to lack of will to fight and consistent yelling for the past ten minutes.

“You’re perfect, you idiot! I don’t get why you don’t think that.” Keith grumbled over his shoulder, wiping his hands over his eyes again and crouching down to put the textbook back in his duffle bag and pick it up.

“Keith, are you okay?” Lance asked, coming up behind his fellow teammate and putting a hand on his shoulder. Instead of brushing it off like Lance expected he would, he looked down at it and then up at Lance where his red eyes locked with Lance’s.

“I’m the unwanted child of two dead parents with a brother who’s too busy for me. I live with two college students who have nothing to do with me and everything to do with being angry at each other. My only friend for years is a child genius whose best friends with your best friend and has almost completely stopped talking to me. The only thing I’m good at is soccer and fighting and both always get me into messes I can’t get myself out of.” Keith rambled, voice dropping to a low, angry hiss. “Of course I’m not fine.” 

Lance froze where he was, hand on Keith’s shoulder, the slightly shorter teen looking down at the ground. Keith had just spilled his guts to Lance. This was probably not something either Shiro or Pidge had heard, considering they were a part of it. Lance was the only one not within that rant and Keith had told him everything.

Lance began to laugh.

“What’s so funny, idiot?” Keith growled, wiping more tears off his face as he looked up to the messy grin plastered on Lance’s face. His wet cheeks sparkled in the light of his overhead lamp, giving him an almost foreign appearance.

“Gosh, we’re such horrible messes.” Lance chuckled as his laughter died down. Keith felt himself crack a grin at the words and the expression on Lance’s face. Keith simply felt left out and unloved, Lance had a mental disorder that made him feel left out and unloved. 

Keith grinned.

“Man, you’re right.” He laughed, taking Lance by surprise and making him blush. Keith’s smiled was made even more beautiful by the puffy, red eyes that had previously been filled with tears. 

There came a banging on the door, making both of them jump as it swung open and a small, teenage girl yelled into the bedroom. 

“Mama says you need to quit making out with your boyfriend and come downstairs. Dinner is ready.” Carmen came in through the door and turned to find where they had stopped, Lance’s hand on Keith’s shoulder, both with wet faces, red eyes, and goofy grins on their faces.

“You two are weird.” She muttered, giving them both a once over before heading out of the room and shutting the door behind her. Keith let out a chuckle that covered a sigh of relief. Lance actually sighed with relief. 

“Does your mom actually think we’re dating?” Keith asked, grabbing his duffle bag off of the chair at Lance’s desk and slinging it over his shoulder. Lance’s face turned red and he shrugged.

“No, I don’t think so. Carmen’s just being a brat.” Lance responded and Keith nodded, wondering what he should say. His thoughts were cut off when Lance continued to speak. “Mama will probably ask you to stay for dinner again.” 

“I should probably be going.” Keith responded and Lance nodded as if in understanding. Lance lead the way out the door and down the stairs to where the rest of the McClain family had gathered. Mrs. McClain did as Lance said she would and, once again, Keith politely said no. He had to do the same when Mr. McClain offered for Lance to give him a ride again. 

As he was turning to leave the McClain household he waved at Lance, a content feeling in his mind. Lance knew him better than anyone all from one shouting match. Gosh, he was never going to live this down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Time: Allura!


	7. Fixing Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith runs into Allura in the library one day at school and has an idea that could fix Shiro and Matt's relationship.

Things hadn’t actually improved all that much after that day at Lance’s house. They finished their project without a problem and turned it in with a little more flare than Keith would have liked. After the project, though, Lance still seemed to be avoiding Keith. Whenever they were at practice he only talked to him as little as he could manage. In math, he was almost completely silent and when he did talk, it was never to Keith.

Keith wanted to believe that Lance was his friend and he was just being avoided, but he knew that this was actually normal. He hadn’t noticed it before, but after the game where Lance had broken down, Keith had realized he wanted to help. Naturally, Lance didn’t talk to him. Keith had assumed this was because Lance was mad at him, but it was actually how Lance acted around him even before that game.

Keith felt left out.

Thinking these things, the Asian teen wandered through the school library, scanning the shelves absently as he thought. Instead of doing what he was supposed to, he was once again caught up on Lance and what to do about the idiot. 

The library was empty, save a few students tucked into corners or sitting at the computers. Keith knew this place was generally avoided by the students at Voltron High, but he didn’t realize how badly. Sure, he rarely went to the library at Galra, but it was normally filled with students studying or messing around. This place was like a ghost down.

Wandering down an isle of books, Keith looked at titles, hoping one would strike his fancy. The math project may have been finished, but his English teacher had decided to start a project where they had to choose their own book to work with. Not being big on reading for fun, Keith had no idea what he was looking for. 

So this whole adventure was proving unsuccessful. 

“Need any help?” A voice came from beside him, not enough to startle him but enough to surprise him a bit. He had sensed that there was someone there, but he hadn’t been paying much attention. Who he found also surprised him, but it shouldn’t have.

“Um, no, I think I’m good.” Keith said, wide eyes taking in the dark skinned beauty before him. She was taller than him, he realized, her hair not what was adding height. Sure, she was wearing boots with heels, but they weren’t what made her taller than him either. This woman was just tall. Her clean, white hair was pulled into a tight bun behind her head, small locks finding their way loose before her face. 

“Are you sure? You look quite lost.” She commented, and Keith turned away, hiding the blush creeping onto his cheeks out of embarrassment. Libraries were not something he often visited. Keith wasn’t book-y, so yeah, he was lost. 

“Um, yeah, I kind of am. You’re Allura, right?” Keith asked, turning to look back up at her. Her eyes widened in surprise and she looked down at herself as if looking for something.

“Why, yes I am. How did you know? I don’t wear a nametag.” Her pleasant surprise was made more evident in the way her accent rose and her smile widened. Keith couldn’t help but feel a little light headed being around her. Shiro wasn’t making a mistake with choosing this one.

“You went out with my brother a while back. He, uh, brought you over and then…well….” Keith stopped, realizing that it was awkward bringing up the whole situation. It hadn’t been her fault, but she had been there. Though she had pushed Shiro into staying and taking her home instead of going out, which had allowed Keith to tell Shiro what the issue was. Allura was really good at reading situations.

“Oh! Oh, you’re Keith! I am so sorry about what happened that night. I had no idea.” Allura apologized, clasping her hands over her chest as if she did have an idea and it had been her fault. Keith smiled, finding this conversation to be far more pleasing than he would have expected.

“It’s not your fault. Matt had been hiding his crush on Shiro for years and Shiro is denser than concrete.” Keith responded, crossing his arms over his chest, fondness and irritation playing on his voice at the same time. If Shiro hadn’t been so dense or if Matt hadn’t been so shy, the situation wouldn’t have escalated so quickly. Keith was taken a bit by surprise when Allura let out a laugh and a nod of agreement

“Are they doing alright? I haven’t heard anything since that night and Shiro doesn’t talk much about it.” Allura said after she got over her laughing. Keith shook his head, thinking about the way Matt and Shiro had been avoiding each other since the night it had happened.

“Shiro was mad Matt was holding himself back and Matt’s mad Shiro didn’t say anything about you beforehand.” Keith responded and Allura clicked her tongue, crossing her arms with a slightly irritated sigh.

“Men, why do they have to be so stupid?” Allura muttered, glancing sideways as she mused over something. Keith could see the gears turning in her head, but he had no idea what she was thinking about. 

“Yeah, well, I don’t think it will last too long. Matt and Shiro have been best friends for years.” Keith finally said, shrugging and then turning back to the shelf he had been checking out. Nothing looked terribly interesting and he was starting to lose his patience with this search.

“I’d like to help quicken the pace, though.” Allura muttered, looking up to see Keith’s knit brow scanning the books before him. She smiled a bit at this expression, holding back a laugh so she wouldn’t offend him. “What are you looking for?” 

“My English teacher assigned a project and I need a book but I don’t read for the fun of it, so I have no idea what I’m looking for.” Keith muttered, face frozen on one book with a title so fancy he was having trouble reading it. Allura held back her disappointment when Keith admitted to having never read a book for fun. How sad! What was life without a good book to enjoy?

“Well, your teacher is probably looking for something high level with a deeper meaning. I don’t think any of these will work terribly well.” Allura responded, grabbing Keith’s arm and giving him a tug toward the front desk. When she knew Keith was following she let go and lead the way to the front. 

She flipped up the top of the counter to let herself through and signaled for Keith to wait there. She disappeared through the doors and into the room in the back where shelves upon shelves of boxes and papers could be seen through large windows. Keith leaned against the front desk and watched as the tall woman disappeared into the shelves, looking for something.

Aimlessly he thought about what Allura had said. She wanted to help quicken things up with Shiro and Matt. How could she do that? She didn’t know either of them very well, though Shiro more than Matt. As he thought, Allura came back to the front holding a small book he didn’t recognize.

“I think you’ll enjoy this one. It’s not terribly large, is full of action, and isn’t that hard of a read. Of course, if something doesn’t make sense, feel free to stop by and ask.” Allura said, holding out the book for Keith to take. As he took it he looked over the title: Beowulf. Lifting his eyes he wondered what it was about. “I’ll need your school ID if you’re going to check it out.” Allura snapped him back from his curiosity.

“Oh, right.” Keith flipped his backpack around so it was sitting on the counter and shuffled through it until he found his student ID. Handing it to Allura he opened a pocket for the book. When she had finished checking him out he slid both the ID card and the book into his bag. 

“Thank you for the talk, Keith. I love hearing some inside information on Shiro’s life.” Allura said, a sly smile slipping onto her face as Keith slung his bag back over his shoulder. Keith chuckled and shrugged.

“If you’d like to hear more, I know Matt has some good stories as well.” Keith responded, a smile on his face as he said it. Then an idea struck him. Grinning even larger he leaned forward. “You know what, I think I have an idea about how you can help get them to start talking to each other.” 

\---

“Keith? Keith? Are you home? It’s not like you to skip practice.” Shiro called as he opened the door to the apartment. The room wasn’t empty, like he had expected, instead there were four people sitting around on the couches and chairs. Normally Matt was in his room when Shiro got home and Pidge was at the table. Naturally, Keith was always with him when he got home, so it was weird to see his younger brother sitting beside Matt on one of the couches, a grin on his face.

“Oh, hey. Yeah, sorry, I had some important business to take care of.” Keith responded with a shrug moving his arms from where they had been on the back of the couch to a crossed position over his chest. He still smiled, but when he turned to Shiro it appeared mischievous. 

“Too important to tell your brother?” Shiro asked, crossing his arms over his chest in a defensive manner. He was trying to take on the fatherly role but it wasn’t working very well because Matt had just started laughing and Keith was trying to hold back a laugh as well. Pidge wasn’t even trying to contain themselves and were practically rolling on the floor with laughter. 

“What’s going on here? What’s so funny?” Shiro asked, successfully cracking Matt up in a manner similar to his sibling. The biggest difference was that he hugged his sides and bent over, his purely amused smile cracking his face and allowing laughter to spill out of it. 

“Sorry, Shiro. We were just telling funny stories.” Keith giggled at this and Matt straightened up, taking a very deep breath and wiping his eyes. Shiro’s brow creased at this sight and he finally turned to the fourth and final person sitting in his living room, his eyes widening in surprise.

“Shiro, I had no idea you had a far more interesting senior prom than I did.” Allura giggled, covering her mouth as she laughed as if it were lady-like to do so. Really, she was just trying to hide the smile. Shiro turned a deep shade of red and swung around toward Matt.

“You told them that story!?” He exclaimed, his voice cracking as he asked the question and Pidge burst into a new bout of laughter, causing Matt to choke another cough out before nodding his head.

“Yeah. Allura wanted to know more about you.” Matt responded, wiping his mouth where he had accidentally drooled at the last laugh. Shiro felt himself heat up even more. Voltron High’s senior prom the year Shiro and Matt had gone had been an event for the ages, a legend, many called it. The only ones who remembered exactly what happened were the students who attended. There were a few family members who knew, but Shiro and Matt had sworn to never tell anyone about it, so most of the people around them had been completely unaware that anything had happened. 

“I thought we swore never to tell anyone.” Shiro whimpered, losing his super defensive dad stance and looking down at the ground where he scuffed his foot. Most of the laughter from the group died out, but Pidge remained on the floor, their bubbly laughter dying to a small trickle of giggles as Keith, Matt, and Allura stopped.

“C’mon, Shiro. It’s been several years. No one’s going to hold it against you.” Matt reassured his friend calmly, small smile still visible on his features. Shiro looked up shyly and Keith could see the visible blush still on his cheeks. From his spot beside Matt he also watched as the smaller man’s shoulders drooped in a very familiar manner. Matt still liked Shiro. 

“Sorry, Matt, but I’m definitely holding it against him.” Pidge giggled from the floor, finally sitting up and wiping the tears from their eyes. Nobody bothered with Pidge, considering they had blackmail against every friend and family member. 

“Why’d you tell Allura, then?” Shiro asked, looking between his best friend and his almost girlfriend. He had yet to actually ask her if she wanted that title, but he hoped she would say yes. Even after everything that had happened. 

“Because she wanted to know.” Matt responded, not sure what else there was to it. Shiro quirked an eyebrow and Matt sighed. “She came over with Keith after school and asked if I had anything about you she should know. So we went out and got sodas and then came back here.” Matt added with a shrug. 

“So, you told her more than just that story?” Shiro asked, voice hesitant. Keith knew there were plenty of funny, embarrassing Shiro stories. He had a few of his own Matt didn’t know. However, Allura hadn’t come over to ask about them just for the sake of knowing more about Shiro. Getting to know Matt was helping Matt open up a bit to the idea of Shiro having a girlfriend. Also, they were talking again, and that was Keith’s biggest goal. 

“Yeah, but not only embarrassing stories. I told her some of my fondest memories.” Matt said, turning away from Shiro with a sigh, his shoulders drooping as the same fond memories resurfaced. What Matt had left out was that they were not only fond memories, but the reasons Matt had fallen for Shiro. 

“Matt….” Shiro muttered, taking a small step forward before Matt shot to his feet and turned toward Shiro, determined expression on his face. Shiro’s eyes widened with surprise, but Matt didn’t stop and, instead, advanced forward until he was standing just in front of Shiro. 

“Takaashi Shirogane, I have liked you since the summer before our senior year in high school. I could tell you the exact moment I realized it, and I’m sorry I didn’t mention it before. I’ve been like a silly school girl, watching you from afar, and I know I can’t have you, no matter how much I want to.” Matt said, his voice wavering a bit and his eyes blinking rapidly to hold back the tears. “I swear, I’ll try my hardest to move on. Allura is an amazing person, you two are really good for each other. I can’t promise I’ll ever be completely over you, but I can promise I’ll try.” Matt held his shoulders stiff and back, squared as if it were making him a braver person. 

There was a small moment of silence where Pidge mimicked puking over the overly sensitive moment Matt was having, but Keith forced himself to watch and he could almost swear he saw a tear in Allura’s eye. 

“Matt, I’m sorry I’ve been so stupid for so long. I’m glad you like Allura, because I like her too. And…and I’ll be here to support you.” Shiro said, his eyes flickering backward toward Keith when he finished. Keith felt shock overcome him and he recalled when he had come out to Shiro. It had taken Shiro a full year to get used to the fact that his baby brother was gay. Shiro had been a traditionalist, so knowing Keith didn’t like girls had struck him as odd. 

Keith snapped back to the present and watched Matt attack Shiro with a tight hug and his brother attempt to hug him back in a similar manner. It was clearly a struggle for Shiro. He had never been so forced to get used to something so quickly. Keith’s coming out had been hard, but this was Matt. They were so very much like brothers it was almost the same situation, only this time, he was also being confessed to. 

Keith knew he was going to need to help Shiro through this.

When Matt finally pulled away, he grinned and let out a huge sigh. With a swift step he walked back to the couch where he snatched his phone off the armrest where he had left it.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a call to make.” Matt said and all four of the other people in the room watched as he left, dialing the number and saying hello before he went entirely out of earshot. 

“Uh, what was that?” Keith asked, looking over at Pidge, who shrugged as if they had no idea. Which was true, because Matt didn’t speak that much about his life with his sibling. Only the things he deemed important.

Shiro, with a huff, dropped onto the couch beside Keith, causing him to roll toward his brother with flailing limbs. Grinning, the man wrapped an arm around his smaller brother and gave him a noogie. 

“That’s what you get for going behind my back and skipping practice.” Shiro growled, laughter evident in his tone. Keith, attempting not to laugh as well, shoved roughly at Shiro’s hands, attempting to get him off. As they fought, Allura turned to Pidge and began talking with the smaller high schooler. Keith had learned, upon arriving at the apartment, that Pidge and Allura were already pretty good friends. He figured Pidge would know her, since they were more of a book-y person than Keith. But apparently, Pidge spent most of their time at school in the library. 

“Also, as punishment, you have to tell me what’s going on with you and Lance.” Shiro whispered, leaning in toward Keith’s ear. The sound of Lance’s name sent a pleasant shiver down Keith’s spine, but he turned toward Shiro, not sure what he meant.

“What do you mean? Lance hates me and avoids me. There’s nothing going on.” Keith responded, hoping that was enough to get Shiro off of his back. Keith knew there was a little more, he found himself thinking about Lance more than he wanted, but he wasn’t sure why. 

“You know, I may be stupid about a lot of things, but I’m not blind. I know what my baby brother looks like when he has a crush.” Keith felt himself turn red at these words. Crush? Not a chance! Lance had just scared him the other day at the game. He was concerned for a teammate, was there something wrong with that?

“I do not have a crush on Lance!” Keith protested, pushing roughly against Shiro and finally freeing himself of his brothers tight grasp. Shiro leaned against the armrest of the couch and lifted a eyebrow. 

“It may have taken me a year to get used to the idea of you being gay, but I can still tell when someone’s ogling and when someone’s spacing out.” Shiro responded and Keith felt himself turn a darker shade of red. Shiro had seen him staring at Lance in the locker room? 

“Wh-what are you talking about?” Keith stuttered, glad Allura and Pidge were too deep in conversation to notice what was going on across from them. Shiro rolled his eyes. 

“You stare at him every time he gets out of the showers. It’s not very subtle.” Shiro said, his own face turning a bit red. Shiro was embarrassed that he had noticed. Keith felt his blood go a bit cold, knowing full well what Shiro was holding back. There was a part of Shiro that was still kind of disgusted that Keith was gay, that he stared at another man with the same look Shiro would stare at Allura with. It hurt to know Shiro still thought like that.

“I’m just concerned. After the game the other day, I want to help. I mean, he did say I was the one who made him feel useless.” Keith muttered, turning to look away from Shiro not out of embarrassment but out of hopelessness. He felt useless if Lance didn’t trust him. Even after the day working on the project they had spent together. It was as if Lance didn’t even remember it.

“Keith, it’s not your fault. Lance has anxiety, it eats away at anything even the slightest bit negative and tells him that it proves people don’t like him. That they think he’s useless. We’ve been working on telling him that he’s not and he’s been doing really well. You don’t need to do anything, we’ve got this.” Shiro responded, leaning forward and resting a hand on Keith’s shoulder to reassure him. It wasn’t reassuring at all. 

“But I said negative things to him. I told him he was being stupid and that he wasn’t doing anything to help. I was the one who triggered his anxiety, Shiro. Stop lying to me and tell me what I can do to help. Or, at least, what I can avoid doing.” Keith protested, anger rising in his tone as he thought about all the times he had brought this up with someone. They kept saying it wasn’t his fault, but they also never blamed the anxiety Lance had. Obviously it was Keith’s fault, he said some things without realizing what effect they would have.

“Keith, this is something Lance has had for years. The best thing to do right now is just act the way you always do. Lance gets a little testy when he can tell people are playing it safe around him. If you just treat him like a normal human being, I’m sure everything will be fine.” Shiro assured him and Keith groaned, throwing his hands up. Standing abruptly, he turned toward his room and then back toward Shiro.

“I was treating him like a normal human being, Shiro, and look where that got me!” Keith hissed before turning back toward his room and successfully closing the door behind him. This was pointless. He would have to change himself completely if he was going to help at all. The way he treated his teammates at Galra was the way he treated most people, it had become habit. 

Sliding to a seat with his back against the door, Keith dropped his head onto his knees and held back a scream. His broken past had shaped who he was and now it was going to destroy everything he cared about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the chapters are going to feel a lot like filler chapters, but they're critical in Klance developing properly. When I reached chapter 11, I'll stop updating and then do a kind of bomb. But we have a little ways to go.


	8. Challenge Accepted!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance and Hunk run into Pidge and Matt and have a full day of fun and games.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super fun filler chapter with a tad bit of angst at the end. But nothing horrible, promise!

“C’mon, buddy, just drop it. You’re really starting to put a damper on my mood.” Hunk grumbled, dropping the wrapper from his pretzel into the garbage can as they passed it. It was a Saturday, so Hunk and Lance were at their usual hang out: the mall. Lance insisted they go and hit on girls and get food and be teenagers and forget about school, and Hunk was more than willing to go if there was food involved.

“Geez, sorry my problems are putting a damper on your mood.” Lance apologized, voice dripping sarcasm as he said it. He had been talking Hunk’s ear off for the past hour about what had happened at his house on the last day he and Keith had worked on the project together. Hunk had heard it every single day since it had happened. Which had been nearly a week. 

“It’s only a problem if you make it one.” Hunk muttered in response, licking the leftover buttery, salty goodness from his fingers. The pretzel’s were one of the only reasons he ever came to the mall with Lance. He got one every single time and helped himself to the ooey, gooey goodness of the cheesy sauce. It was delicious in a completely nasty way. Hunk knew he could make them better, but they were just so signature this way. He had to have the full experience.

“What? No, it’s a problem because Keith’s a problem. He was being too nice and there must have been something up with that.” Lance muttered grumpily. This had been the general conversation for the last several hours. Lance would insist Keith was a problem and that what had happened was weird, and Hunk would respond with the knowledge that Keith was actually a good guy every once in a while. Lance never believed him.

“Lance, everyone has a good side, Keith just has trouble showing his.” Hunk responded, staring straight ahead and trying to decide what store they could go into that would distract Lance. The Disney store was up ahead, or the Lego store just further down. Hunk knew Lance enjoyed making an army of himself out of the ‘make a figurine’ box. 

He was about to suggest going into one of the two stores when he spotted a familiar face exiting the Disney store, older brother in tow.

“Pidge! Hey, Pidge!” Hunk shouted, glad to not only change the subject, but to see someone he could talk to about more than just Keith. What a breath of fresh air it was to see the freshmen and their brother. 

“Hey, Hunk. Lance. What are you doing at the mall?” Pidge asked when they noticed Hunk advancing rapidly. Lance hung behind him and made a face, mocking the way Pidge said his name. Neither of the two seemed to notice his obvious distaste toward their new company. Not that he had anything against Pidge, he just didn’t have much he could contribute to a conversation with them. 

“We were just walking around. What about you?” Hunk asked, slowing to a stop before Matt and Pidge, hands tucked lazily in his pockets. Matt held a small bag that had clearly been taken from the Disney store, but otherwise, both of them had empty hands.

“I wanted to go check out the new game console that Game Stop just received, but Matt had to go to the Disney store first.” Pidge grumbled, throwing an angry thumb toward their brother while they spoke. Matt laughed at his siblings words, but didn’t appear offended by them. Both Lance and Hunk knew how that felt, being the oldest in the house.

“Wait, they got a new console? I have to see it! I know Lance will probably appreciate it too, though he’d never admit it.” Hunk responded, nudging Lance jokingly and getting an eye roll from his best friend in response.

“I like playing games. I don’t really care how they’re played, just that they’re played.” Lance muttered in response, attempting to sound indifferent. If they were allowed to test out a game on this ‘new console’, then Lance would be more than thrilled to go check it out with them. Otherwise, it was just a boring hunk of plastic and there was nothing special about it. 

“Then it’s settled. We’re going to check it out.” Matt decided, getting a giddy ‘whoop’ from Pidge when he said this. Pidge practically ran up ahead if Hunk attempting to follow behind, Matt and Lance taking up the back. They fell into step with each other and watched their friend and sibling with fond smiles. They had a little something in common.

“How have you been, Lance? It’s been a while since we’ve talked.” Matt’s voice surprised Lance, almost making him jump from the shock of the sound. Luckily, he was able to contain himself and brush it off as if it was nothing. He shrugged.

“We didn’t really talk at all the first time we met.” Lance pointed out and glanced sideways at Matt, who nodded as he thought about it. The first time they had met it had been introductions and then suddenly Lance and Keith were competing in glow golf. 

“That’s true. You and Keith seemed to have some kind of competition going on.” Matt responded and Lance nodded, remembering how bitter he had been when he had lost. Keith had only made him feel worse by calling him obsessed. “What was up with that, anyway?” Matt asked, taking Lance by surprise as they turned a corner, Game Stop coming into view up ahead.

“I’ve known Keith since we were six. He was in a different soccer club than Hunk and I and we played each other once a year. He never took competitions seriously, but he was always there. I kind of swore to take him down, beat him at his own game. But then he transferred to Voltron and now I can’t.” Lance muttered angrily, feeling his fists get tighter as he thought about it. How was he supposed to prove his worth to the team if he couldn’t be the best player?

“Wait, since you were six? That’s a long time! Keith never mentioned you guys at all.” Matt sounded incredulous as they watched Hunk and Pidge disappear into Game Stop ahead of them, intent on seeing the game console. 

“Yeah, well, we weren’t important enough to mention. Plus, Pidge said he had a lot going on around that time.” Lance muttered as they followed inside to find the store packed full of nerds and gamers. They all had generally the same appearance: a jacket, a nerd T-shirt, and baggy jeans. Lance coiled back in disgust at all of them and their lack of fashion.

“That is true, Keith and Shiro did have a lot going on at the time.” Matt’s response was almost entirely drowned out by the noise in the store. There was a group of three people standing around a certain section of games arguing about something, someone having a debate or negotiation of sorts with the guy at the front counter, and several others going crazy testing out some game they had set up in the corner of the room.

“Geez, it’s packed in here.” Lance grumbled, pushing through the group, glad for his height. Most of the nerds were shorter than him with a couple of exceptions, so he could spot Hunk no problem. He would just have to assume Pidge was nearby. 

“I can’t see anything.” Matt muttered, barely audible above the racket. Lance looked down a notice that Matt was shorter than him. In fact, he would be shorter than Keith if mullet were there. Luckily, he wasn’t. 

“C’mon, I see Hunk. I assume Pidge is close to him.” Lance practically shouted, grabbing Matt’s hand and pulling him through the crowd so they wouldn’t lose each other. It took about five minutes and a lot of shoving before Lance was able to reach out and tap Hunk on the shoulder. The large teen turned to find his best friend behind him and grinned like a maniac.

“They’re letting people test the console out! Isn’t it the coolest?” He turned back toward the game as he said this, his voice nearly drowning in the sea of screaming coming from the kids in front of them. They couldn’t have been more than twelve and were wailing on the controllers like it would help them play better. Pidge was beside Hunk, Lance realized, jumping up and down like a kid in a candy shop. Which was basically true, this was Pidge’s candy shop. 

“Yeah, sure. How long are we going to be in here? I think this is starting to stress me out.” Lance pointed out, sure he was cutting off the circulation in Matt’s hand. He was just glad the older Holt hadn’t protested the whole hand holding thing. Lance really needed something physical to cling to.

“What? Of course! We’ll play one round and then we’ll be outta here.” Hunk responded, turning vaguely in Lance’s direction as he said this. Lance dropped his shoulders and grumbled at this, his sass coming into play to cover up the growing unease he was feeling at being in such a packed room.

“Lance! Lance, are you alright!?” The shouting was coming from his right side, just barely behind him, and was still barely audible over the sounds coming from the players at the console. Turning he looked right into Matt’s face, the older Holt being much closer than he had anticipated. Backing away slightly he forced a smile and nodded.

“Peachy. Why do you ask?” Lance responded, trying really hard to not come off as overly pressured in this room. Matt cringed as he spoke and he realized that he had squeezed his hand tighter as a way to squeeze out the stress.

“Because I can’t feel my hand.” Matt groaned, lifting up the hand Lance was holding to reveal that it had started to go purple. Gasping, Lance relaxed his grip and Matt sighed with relief as the blood came rushing back to his fingers. 

“Geez, sorry about that. I’m just not a big fan of packed places.” Lance responded, dropping their hands and trying, instead, to squeeze his left hand to get the stress out. He didn’t want to cut off Matt’s circulation any further, but he also didn’t want the older Holt to get lost in the crowd and lose them forever. 

“That’s fine. I completely understand. I used to skip school because I hated crowds. Eventually Shiro helped me get over it, but it took a while.” Matt said, laughing nervously to show that some of it was still there. School wasn’t as packed as the Game Stop was, anyway. 

“We should get out of here. I don’t mind ditching the nerds if it means some fresh air.” Lance suggested, deciding he didn’t want to waste his voice to yell and instead spoke directly into Matt’s ear. 

“Yeah, I agree.” Matt responded, giving Lance the okay to pull him out of there. The two pushed and shoved their way through the throng of gamers. It was honestly more of Lance doing the pushing, Matt just pressed himself against the younger boys back as if he were a part of Lance.

When they finally exited Game Stop it was like they had been squeezed out, their bodies flung into the much emptier hallway of the mall. People milled about, chatting absently, taking pictures with their phones, and eating food as they walked. There were definitely less people in the hallway than there were in Game Stop. 

Lance dragged Matt toward the lounge chairs sitting in front of the stores entrance and they both dropped onto the couch with a huff, sliding down until it was their backs on the cushions instead of their butts. 

“I hate crowded places.” Lance muttered absently as they sat there. There came only a muffled hum of response from Matt as he agreed. Turning his head he looked over at Matt, nearly getting a face full of fluffy, brown hair. 

“Wow, I didn’t think you had gotten over Shiro that quickly.” The small, annoying voice came from Lance’s left side and both he and Matt whipped their heads in the direction it came from. Standing near the entrance to Game Stop was Pidge, Hunk right on their heels, taking deep breaths as he collected himself from the chaos. 

“What are you talking about?” Matt muttered, pulling himself into a seated position, Lance following suit to make himself more comfortable. Pidge’s only response was to take out their phone. They held it up to Lance and Matt with a maniacal grin.

“Say cheese!” They giggled before the sound of their camera taking a picture sounded and both Lance and Matt snapped their heads toward each other. They were still hand in hand.

Jumping, both of them pushed away to either end of the couch to get away from each other. 

“It was packed in there, Pidge! He could see where everyone was! He was just guiding me through!” Matt protested, earning enthusiastic nods from Lance with every word. Pidge just nodded their head, typing away at their phone, Hunk reading over their shoulder.

“Uh-huh. Right, well, you can explain that to Shiro yourself.” Pidge explained, holding up their phone to show the two of them that they were in their messaging app and had just sent a picture. It wasn’t close enough to tell what the picture was or who it had been sent to, but Pidge’s words were enough for them to understand. 

“Ah, Pidge! You nasty little-“ Matt exclaimed, shooting to his feet to chase after Pidge, who dodged without a problem, their small size and speed able to get them away faster. They laughed wildly as they dodged their brother around the couches and chairs. Lance stood and crossed his arms, joining Hunk where he stood. There came a ding from Hunk’s pocket and he pulled out his phone, laughing at what came up. 

“What’s so funny?” Lance asked, turning to look at his friend. The situation with Pidge was unavoidable, so he might as well make himself useful by petering Hunk. 

“Nothing.” He muttered, putting his phone back to sleep and moving to put it back in his pocket. Lance, naturally, didn’t believe him and shot out a hand to grab Hunk’s phone. Ignoring his shouts of protest, Lance nimbly dodged and out maneuvered his big friend, opening his phone while he did so. Gasping, he grabbed Matt by the arm when he passed by and turned the phone to him.

“They sent it to Hunk.” Lance explained, the picture of them holding hands staring Matt right in the face. The older Holt gasped and turned toward his sibling again. Lance let go of his arm as Matt shouted some not so polite words in their direction before moving in to attack again.

“Hunk, how dare you betray me!” Pidge shouted behind themselves as they ran from Matt, still out maneuvering him easily. Hunk took his phone back from Lance when it was handed to him and shrugged. With Lance, it was hard to fight. 

“How ‘bout we take this to Round One? Some good ol’ competition should calm us down a bit.” Lance suggested, throwing his hands into the universal ‘surrender’ sign. Matt and Pidge stopped and turned to him. 

“Do you have the money for Round One?” Matt asked, a doubtful look in his eyes. Lance shrugged and avoided looking directly at Matt.

“I have enough for a few rounds of air hockey.” He muttered in response and Matt scoffed, rolling his eyes. Round One was expensive. It was a adult version of Chuck-E-Cheese and far more fun. Also, it had karaoke and bowling, which was more than Chuck-E-Cheese could say.

“I still have most of what I made off of that computer I built.” Pidge offered up. Hunk turned with a look of shock in his expression.

“You sold that?” He asked, incredulous that Pidge would do such a thing. Pidge shrugged, not looking terribly fazed by the disappointment in Hunk’s expression.

“It was junk. Plus, I built a better one with some of the money I made off of it.” Pidge responded and Hunk nodded in understanding, a look of awe crossing his face. 

“Okay, cut the nerd chat, let’s get to playing!” Lance exclaimed and the others cheered in agreement. 

The entrance to Round One could almost be called secret. It was hidden in a small corner near a large department store and was simply and elevator door. It did have large signs labeled ‘Round One’ in big print pointing at it, so that made it less secret. Once on the elevator, you were taken to the second floor where Round One took up the space of a normal department store. 

Which was to say it was huge.

There were karaoke rooms, eight in total, on the left side of the room; a sea of claw machines right in front of you; arcade games to the right near the half wall, balcony area; and an array of different air hockey games behind the arcade area. The front desk was behind all of it and the bowling area was below, only accessible through an elevator on the opposite side of the room. 

Pidge purchased them a card with many tickets to play so they were able to get through as many games as they wanted. They started with some simple air hockey, which Matt was surprisingly good at. He beat Pidge without too much effort and was only really challenged when Hunk stepped up to the other side. Still, he won and took the pot for air hockey.

It was the arcade games that Lance and Pidge took charge of. Hunk was good competition, sure, but Lance had trained himself hard to play these well and Pidge was just a natural master with their vast knowledge of technology. It was a true competition when they reached Pac Man, but Lance managed to win by a hair. 

The claw machines turned out to be Hunk’s personal best and he was able to win each of them their own toy from the machines.

Once he drew out a special Neko Atsume plush for Lance, they ran out of tickets. 

To celebrate the game, Hunk and Matt bought each other drinks and Pidge and Lance did the same. They were sitting lazily in the food court while Matt and Hunk discussed the best places for Chinese food when Pidge asked a question that nearly made Lance choke on his drink.

“So, what’s up with you and Keith?” It was nonchalant, but curious enough to surprise Lance into a stuttering mess.

“What do you mean? Keith is my rival, always has been. Sure, we’re on the same team, but he’s still a jerk and deserves to be taken down.” Lance responded, spouting a bunch of nonsense he hoped would push Pidge off. They rolled their eyes and waved a hand. 

“Whatever. Hunk just says you talk about him a lot, is all.” Lance silently cursed Hunk before Pidge continued. “I just don’t want you to hurt him too much.” Pidge’s words calmed Lance down a bit but not in the way they probably expected.

“Hurt him? Geez, you make it sound as if he’s not the big jerk.” Lance muttered with a slight growl, annoyed that Pidge would dare say something like that to him. Him? Hurt Keith? That kid was indestructible. There was nothing Lance could do to hurt him.

“Yeah, Keith can be really cold, I understand more than anyone, but it wasn’t a completely natural choice. He’s had everything he cared about ripped out from underneath him. Every time he gets attached, he loses a piece of himself. He’s not the same as the kid I met so long ago.” Pidge explained, and Lance recalled the conversation they had had in his room almost a full week ago. 

“I’m the unwanted child of two dead parents with a brother who’s too busy for me. I live with two college students who have nothing to do with me and everything to do with being angry at each other. My only friend for years is a child genius whose best friends with your best friend and has almost completely stopped talking to me. The only thing I’m good at is soccer and fighting and both always get me into messes I can’t get myself out of.” 

Lance hadn’t been thinking straight. Keith was a jerk because he was hurt when he wasn’t. Lance was similar, but he was more outgoing because it hurt to not be. 

“Keith and I are the same.” Lance muttered, almost entirely inaudible as he realized how extremely similar he was to mullet. It almost made him cringe to say it, but he knew it was true. 

“Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night. Just be nicer, okay?” Pidge muttered, taking a sip of their drink as Lance looked up, making eye contact with them.

“I’ll be nicer if you talk to him more, alright?” Lance suggested and Pidge looked almost offended that Lance was implying they didn’t talk to Keith, but they sighed and held out a hand to shake.

“Deal.” They muttered, and Lance shook to seal the deal. He had officially promised to be nicer to Keith. Maybe this and Pidge’s talking to him again would help him heal. Maybe healing Keith was the key to healing himself. 

Lance sure hoped so, because he wasn’t sure what other solutions he had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot of what can be found in this made up mall comes from the largest mall in my area, so yes, Round One is a real place (in case you don't have on in your area).


	9. Not Working

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith tries to be nicer to Lance and Lance tries to be nicer to Keith. It's not as easy as they thought....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took forever because I wasn't sure what to put in it. But here it is!

So apparently being nice to Keith was not nearly as easy as he thought it would be. Something had happened over the weekend with Keith at some point because during practice, he was being really weird and it was hard to be nice when he was practically ignoring Lance.

He was down on the field before everyone else, just as usual, and Lance had sped up his getting ready process to try and be nicer early, maybe get a feel for what it meant to be nice to Keith. Only, Keith saw him coming and ducked away? Lance watched, irritated, as Keith took the soccer ball he had and jogged toward one of the goals, far away from Lance. 

What was his problem? 

Lance wasn’t able to ask as the rest of the team joined them on the field for practice. When Shiro called them all together, Keith seemed to make sure he was on the other side of the half circle from Lance. 

“Alright guys, tomorrow is our next game. We managed to make it through the last one, but we need to work better as a team. I think I have some ideas about how to do that. Team building exercises! I have a few pairs and a few group exercises, so you’ll need a partner. Try it with someone you don’t know very well, that’s the point of all of this.” Shiro said and the group began murmuring among themselves. Many of the team members were pumped to do team building exercises. They were all good friends with each other and working to play some games was a good idea. Lance was pretty sure the only reason he was doing this was to get him and Keith to work together. 

“Alright guys, let’s get started!” Shiro clapped his hands together and the team broke up into pairs. Lance was ready to pair up with Hunk and avoid Shiro’s stupid plan when he turned around to find Keith standing right beside him. 

“Um, be my partner?” Keith asked, eyes looking toward the ground at first before finally making it to Lance’s face. Was he blushing? Lance swore he felt his heart skip a beat but he wasn’t sure why. 

“Fine, whatever.” Lance muttered, and the games began. It wasn’t much, mostly stuff Shiro had obviously found online. But it was funny. The first was a simple and rather well used. Lance recognized it as one they had used almost every year when he had been on a soccer club. Shiro had grabbed a bunch of towels from the closet in the teacher’s office in the locker room and tossed them randomly on one half of the field.

“Alright, come grab a blindfold. One partner is going to lead the other through the maze. When the first partner reaches you, switch jobs.” Shiro explained, handing out blindfolds. Lance grumbled at the idea of having to trust Keith enough to lead him through this stupid maze. However, he had promised Pidge he would be nicer to Keith. 

“I’ll go first. You lead me.” Lance muttered, grabbing the blindfold from Shiro and grumpily tying it around his eyes. He wasn’t able to see Keith’s nod in agreement, but it was there. Guiding him with his hands, Keith situated him at one end of their minefield and then ran to the other. 

“Alright, take two steps forward, and then a right!” Keith called, trying to be heard over the sounds of everyone elses voices. Why did Shiro think it was a good idea to have them all doing this at once? They were all too far away from each other, but Keith’s annoying voice was easy to pick out from the crowd.

Lance did as he was told, taking a couple of small steps before sliding to the right. There came a groan from the other end of the minefield and a few sounds of laughter from other team members.

“No! That’s not what I said!” Keith called, frustration clear in his voice. Lance scoffed, and crossed his arms, moving his feet from where he assumed he must have been standing on a towel. 

“That is most definitely what you said!” Lance called back, getting yet another groan from Keith, who attempted to correct him. His tone was clearly frustrated, but he sounded as if he was choosing his words very carefully. What was up with this guy? 

Eventually, Lance did make it to the end, but not before the entire rest of the team was already halfway across with their second partner. Lance was moving to untie the blindfold when Keith pulled it off for him. Lance was met with Keith’s face closer to his than it had ever been and he felt his heart skip a beat again. 

“My turn.” Keith muttered, and Lance turned and jogged to the other end of the field. The task was lengthy despite Lance’s very specific directions and they were the last group to finish. Luckily, no one made any comments about this fact and they moved onto the next task: the ever classic trust fall.

“Trust fall is the stupidest trust exercise ever invented.” Lance muttered angrily as Keith stood a good enough distance away that Lance could catch him by his shoulders. Before Lance even had the chance to say Keith could go, the shorter player was already falling backward. His legs were straight and his arms were crossed over his chest as if he was falling into his coffin. Hurriedly, Lance threw out his arms and caught Keith, who was surprisingly lighter than he expected. 

“Geez! Give me warning next time!” Lance exclaimed as he pushed Keith back into a standing position and the other teen turned around.

“Trust doesn’t always imply fair warning. Something could happen in the game at any moment. I need to trust you have my back when you least expect it.” Keith responded matter-of-factly, making Lance just about ready to tackle him or snap at him or something. “It’s nice to know you do.” Keith added on after a small pause. Again, Lance felt his heart skip a beat at the small smile on Keith’s face. 

When it was his turn to fall into Keith, he was afraid the other teen wouldn’t be able to catch him, especially with the force of his falling. Lance knew he was heavier than he looked, Hunk liked to comment on that all the time.

Yet, when Lance fell backward, fear coursing through his body that he would hit the ground with a thud, he felt strong hands grip him under the armpits and catch him. There was a bit of stumbling and Lance feared Keith would drop him, but he didn’t and he was able to stand back up as if nothing had ever happened.

“I guess I should trust you more.” Lance muttered, looking away from Keith so he didn’t have to see the look of surprise he knew was there. He was afraid he would feel the funny feeling in his chest again and he didn’t want to think about that.

They played a few more games including something Shiro called Willow in the Wind and one involving proximity, which Lance was a little uncomfortable with. The one that really made Lance uncomfortable was eye contact. How it was necessary in soccer, Lance had no idea, but staring into Keith’s eyes was really awkward. Until he began to drown in the beautiful shade of purple that they were and then he had to hide his disappointment about looking away when they were told to. 

Lance was thrilled when Shiro called for a quick scrimmage match before they went inside. Somehow he managed to be on the opposite team from Keith and didn’t have to go anywhere near the guy. Occasionally he was called on to grab the ball from him, but otherwise Lance was tasked with watching someone else for the match and didn’t have to go anywhere near Keith. 

It was such a relief when practice was over, Lance practically ran to the locker room to wash up and be on his way. He was joined by Hunk at his locker after a few minutes due to the other teens slower pace.

“Geez, Lance, you didn’t have to run off like that.” Hunk muttered with a huff, clearly out of breath from trying to catch up with his friend. Lance busied himself by taking his clothes from his locker so they were ready by the time he finished washing up in the shower. He had been so focused in the short scrimmage that he definitely needed a shower.

“How dare you leave me with Keith! We’re buddies, Hunk, I thought you’d be my go to partner!” Lance exclaimed, trying his best not to be too loud for Keith to hear him. He knew he was supposed to be nicer to Keith, but the entire day had been awkward and he was finding the task harder than he had expected. 

“What? Dude, you were the one who partnered up with Keith. I was going to ask to be your partner, but you were with Keith before I could even ask.” Hunk explained, making Lance roll his eyes and huff at Hunk’s lame excuses.

“Keith was behind me when I went to find you. I didn’t ask to be his partner.” Lance muttered, trying to figure out why Keith would want to be his partner when Lance had been so adamant they were rivals. Was it Shiro’s idea? Keith had seemed a bit awkward about it when asking, but he’d looked as if it was nothing. 

“Then he asked you?” Hunk asked, grabbing his things from his locker. Lance had frozen where he was in thought. The way Keith had looked at him, the words he had said, his smile when he laughed, and the touch of his skin. Lance’s heart did a somersault at the memories of these things.

“Yeah.” He muttered, almost forgetting Hunk had even asked a question. There was a pause as Hunk changed back into his street clothes and Lance stood before his locker, clearly deep in thought. Before he could talk himself out of it, he turned toward Hunk to get his advice. “What does it mean when your heart skips a beat while looking at someone?” Lance asked, hoping he didn’t sound desperate as he poured out the question, genuinely curious but not trying to sound like a weirdo. 

“What? Heart skips a beat…? Um, well, I dunno. I suppose that’s what a lot of people feel like when they like someone. Or are in love.” Hunk responded, brow knit close together as he answered. Lance hadn’t ever asked him anything like that since he was the one who was closer to an ‘expert’ on love. Was Lance okay?

“Ah, okay. Hmm….” Lance hummed in thought and a concerned Hunk slowly turned away to continue getting changed. Love? There was no way he was in love with Keith. Maybe it could also be hate? People mistook love for hate all the time, why couldn’t it go the other way? 

“Lance, you better get changed before Shiro calls for everyone to leave.” Hunk snapped him from his thoughts and Lance realized he was thinking too hard on this. Of course it was hate! Why wouldn’t it be? 

With this resolved, Lance whipped into the showers quickly and then changed so he could leave before Shiro turned the lights out on him.

 

The next game was chaos. The team arrived at the field they would be using earlier than last time and were able to have a longer warm-up. It was nice getting to run classic drills with the rest of the group around him. There was lots of cheering and casual catcalling to one another, something they had done for years. For whatever reason, they had all relaxed a bit. That or they were hiding their nerves. 

They were in the middle of practicing goals with Hunk when Shiro called them all in. As they jogged toward their coach they noticed the other team was already finished warming up. Keith felt his nerves beginning to eat at him. Why was he nervous? He had never felt nervous before a game, yet here he was, nibbling nervously on his nails as if it would help. There wasn’t even anything to bite! They were too short for that.

“Alright, team. Don’t let your guard down with this one. They may have lost their first game, but we barely scrapped by in our own, so there’s no reason to go easy on them. Plus, we’ve got the Galra to deal with in the next game, and we need to practice trusting each other. So let’s get out there, and let’s win!” Shiro exclaimed and the entire team erupted into a cheering mess. 

Keith felt himself cheering loudly, but almost felt like he was out of his own body. Was he really pumped to play the Galra Academy team? They had been his last school and when he had left, he hadn’t really left on good terms. 

“You all know who’s starting, so get out there.” Shiro called as the ref stepped onto the field and blew his whistle, gathering the attention of each team. The group of Voltron starters jogged out toward the field, mirrored by the other team’s players as well. The captains took up the middle circle and the coin toss was done. The other team chose to let Voltron start and backed out of the circle to allow them to begin the game. 

Keith bounced nervously from one foot to the other as he waited for the kick off to be signaled. Keith was still the first to get the ball, so when the whistle was blown, it was at his feet and he was immediately goading it forward with small taps toward the other end of the field. 

Quickly, he was trapped by the other team’s players. It seemed they were working up a strategy to get Keith to pass the ball. Most of the players surrounded him, so he was barely able to see Lance’s opening and almost unable to pass the ball right into the other team’s captain. 

Cursing under his breath he looked back up at Lance, who was now racing to the other end of the field to follow the captain. The forward glanced at Keith as they both ran and then nervously pushed his eyes forward again. Keith couldn’t look away, though, and nearly ran into the captain when he caught up with him. The guy was backing away from his team’s defense and trying to get an idea of what move to make next.

Keith backed away rapidly and ended up tripping over his own feet, landing with a thud on his butt. While he pushed himself to his feet, the other team scored the first goal of the game, not even a full five minutes in and they were already behind. Keith cursed himself for his stupid brain and his inability to focus. 

“Hey, Keith, you okay?” The voice was Lance’s and it was calm, calmer than Keith had expected. Was he not nervous? Was he not freaking out? Keith looked up at Lance, who’s eyes looked worried. There was something else hidden there, but Keith couldn’t tell what.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Keith muttered, brushing Lance off so he could prepare for the kick off.

That was how the rest of the game went. Keith would attempt to pass to someone, mostly Lance, and it would either fall into the other team’s hands or Lance would mess up the pass and lose the ball to the other team. There was one point where Lance took the ball back and raced it to the other end of the field, nailing it right into the goal and earning them their first point. But that was only the first half and they were three points behind. 

“Alright guys, it looks like we’re a little shaky. If we can just remember what we’ve been practicing, it shouldn’t be too hard to catch up.” Shiro told the team as they gathered around him for the short break between halves. They were all a little gloomy looking, but Keith was pacing back and forth behind them all, nerves shot and mind moving a mile a minute. When they all dispersed to get some water or to sit down, Shiro approached him and made him stop walking.

“Keith, are you feeling alright?” Shiro asked, putting both hands on Keith’s shoulders to look him in the eyes. Keith was jittery and jumping, having trouble staying still even under Shiro’s firm grip.

“I don’t know, Shiro. I was nervous when we got here. Lance is fine, right? I haven’t done anything?” Keith asked, looking over Shiro’s shoulder where Lance stood with Hunk, taking a drink of water and shooting hand guns at someone in the stands. Okay, he was fine.

“Wait, you’re worried about Lance? Keith, this is your game too. Don’t worry too much about Lance, he’s resilient, he’ll be fine. I want to know what’s wrong with you.” Shiro pressed, moving his head in front of Keith’s gaze so he wasn’t looking at Lance.

“I dunno, Shiro. I just….I keep messing up and I want to yell at Lance but I don’t want to hurt him like last time.” Keith admitted, keeping himself busy by not looking at Shiro but instead at his hands. “I haven’t gone this long in a game without yelling at someone.” Keith muttered after a small pause. Shiro laughed.

“You haven’t? That’s silly, Keith. There’s no reason to worry, you’re fine. Lance is fine. The whole team is fine. We just underestimated them a little too much. You’ll be able to handle this, just don’t get too worked up and get back out there.” Shiro said, patting Keith on one shoulder before turning back to the rest of the team. 

The second half was called to start then, and the other team kicked off toward the Voltron goal. For the first time in his long soccer career, Keith hung back. He watched the rest of his team play and took in the skills and strategies of the other teams members. He followed back and forth as they juggled the ball between each end of the field, neither team making a goal. 

Several times he forced the ball out on the other team to give them more time to recuperate. There was little breathing room with these guys, but Keith was able to hold them back until Lance took the ball and zipped down to the other end of the field, everyone hot on his heels, but no one able to catch up. 

Then he tripped over his own feet.

The ball went flying forward as he nudged it with his foot a little too hard as he took the fall and the goalie was able to stop it and toss it to one of his own team members. Voltron scattered back toward their end of the field but Keith jogged toward Lance to help him up.

“Lance, are you okay?” Keith asked, grabbing Lance’s hand and pulling him to his feet. The other forward stood and brushed himself off, looking up at Keith with a look Keith couldn’t read. He looked concerned, but angry, and at the same time hurt. Keith wasn’t sure which it was.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Lance grumbled, jogging toward the Voltron side of the field to help his team. Keith followed behind him reluctantly, not sure what he was supposed to do.

The game ended four to two, Voltron had lost. 

Keith stood behind the team as Shiro talked to them about how they would train hard and practice a lot so they could beat the Galra. But Keith had been on the Galra team. Just by the way practice was run, he knew Voltron would never win against the team. They were unstoppable. 

“If we beat the Galra, we still have a chance at going to state. We just have to work harder than ever before. Now go to the bus, we’re all a little tired after that game.” Shiro finished and the team headed toward the bus, Keith at the very back. He grabbed his bag after everyone had disappeared toward the bus but was stopped by Lance before he could follow them.

“What was all that?” Lance asked, anger and frustration clearly written in his expression. Keith’s brow knit with confusion as he backed away, Lance having advanced a little too close for comfort.

“What was what?” Keith asked, hoping Lance would be able to clarify for him. Keith wasn’t sure why he had reason to be mad at him, the whole game had been a mess.

“You know what!” Lance exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air at both his sides for added emphasis. Keith’s confused expression turned to one of anger and frustration, reflecting the expression in Lance’s face.

“No, I don’t! Care to explain?” Keith shot back, crossing his arms defensively over his chest and looking Lance up and down like he was crazy. Which he was.

“You never once yelled at me. Or got angry at me. Lat game you kept telling me I was stupid and doing things wrong and this time you either said nothing or asked if I was alright.” Lance clarified and Keith felt his mouth drop open in surprise. Lance was angry about that? What the heck was wrong with this guy?

“I was being nice! I didn’t want to hurt you like I did last game!” Keith explained, voice rising a bit as he said it. Lance’s face went from anger to a bit of shock right back to anger again.

“You were going easy on me?! Argh! You don’t need to go easy on me, I’m fine!” Lance exclaimed before turning with a dramatic flair and heading toward the bus. Keith watched him go, eyes wide, mouth agape. He was serious. He was actually mad that Keith was being nice during the game.

A firm hand patted Keith on the back and Hunk passed by, having seen it all. 

“It’s a learned art, buddy. Now let’s go before Shiro yells at us for taking too long.” Hunk said, heading toward the bus, Keith hastily following behind. Was there ever going to be a solution to their strange situation?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: Actually getting to know each other? *gasp*


	10. Movie Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge and Keith plan a movie and game night and Pidge ends up inviting Lance and Hunk along.

Voltron High’s soccer team was at an all time low. They felt defeated since the last game. The team hadn’t even been that good, they had just been that much off of their game. Lance would run around telling everyone that it was fine, that they would do great against the Galra. Everyone appreciated his enthusiasm except Keith. 

To Keith, it was just Lance’s insincere mask against their inevitable defeat from Keith’s previous school. Every time Lance attempted to cheer Keith up, he would brush it off, say something that sounded half-hearted, then he would walk away. Keith knew that he had been the main reason for their defeat, he had been so focused on helping Lance he had lost focus on the game. And yet, Lance had yelled at him for being too soft. Too soft? 

Keith didn’t know what was wrong with himself. Lance was a great guy, funny, easy to get along with once you got passed the booming ego, and generally a very caring guy. But there was nothing easy about getting along with him when Keith tried it, so he learned that avoiding Lance was easier. 

This made certain situations a little difficult.

The first was practice. Shiro was constantly working his forwards with each other so they could learn their weaknesses and improve upon them by working together. Considering both Lance and Keith were forwards, they were forced to work together during practice almost every day. But neither of them said anything to each other, just moved on and worked with the other forwards. Who were confused as well. 

This was voice to Shiro one day after practice a couple of days after their defeat. 

“Shiro, Lance and Keith seem to be ignoring each other. It’s making it hard to work with them.” One of the freshmen forwards was the first to voice his concern. His bright enthusiasm and red hair made him stand out, but he was much more like Lance than many of the team noticed: he was caring. 

“Hmm, I think I might know the problem. It’ll take some work, but hang in there, I got this.” Shiro had assured him before disappearing to talk to the goalies where they practiced. He had stolen Hunk away from the freshmen and sophomores that were practicing with them to discuss the whole situation. Without sounding over protective. He was their coach, after all. 

The other situation that was difficult was math. 

Having the same class and sitting close together was uncomfortable for Keith. He couldn’t help but feel like Lance was always staring at him from behind but he didn’t want to turn around in case it was true. They were able to work in silence for the most part, but there still seemed to be some tension between them, which concerned anyone who knew Lance well. Which was most of the class.

“Why does he seem so off lately?” Someone whispered to a friend during private work time. They had just been given worksheets to do for homework and the time they had to work on them was extensive. Lance was working adamantly on his, despite the amount of friends to catch up with in the class. Normally he would talk their ears off, but he was so focused that he didn’t even notice whenever someone tried to get his attention.

“I don’t know. He’s been off since the beginning of the year. Maybe it’s that Keith guy.” Was the response, not unheard by said Keith guy. Keith worked adamantly on his work too, but his ears picked up whispered conversations around the room and he would often listen in the instant he heard Lance’s name. He didn’t know why, but it became habit. 

Other than math and practice, they didn’t see each other very often, so it wasn’t much of a problem. At least, that was how they both treated it. Not a problem. At all.

Only it was a bit awkward since Hunk and Pidge hung out at lunch most days and sometimes Keith would tag along and, while Pidge and Hunk talked, Keith and Lance would sit awkwardly, pretending to be busy doing something else.

On one of these days, Hunk discussed some kind of science-y thing with Pidge and they ranted and raved over it through most of lunch before Pidge paused the conversation to talk to Keith.

“We still doing movie night?” They asked and Keith nearly jumped, having been snapped out of his distant thoughts. It took him a second longer to process what Pidge had said and that they had been talking to him. 

“Oh, um, of course. Wouldn’t miss it.” Keith muttered, taking a bite of his food and looking away when Pidge gave him a weird look. Lance’s head lifted slightly at the sound of the words ‘movie’ and ‘night’ paired together.

“You guys do movie night?” Lance asked and Pidge looked up, shocked to hear him talking after he had been silent for so long. They nodded their head and grinned.

“Yeah, we play some stupid board game – I always win – and then we watch a classic.” Pidge responded with a grin, sounding a bit smug when they said this. Keith snorted before looking back up from his food, clearly offended but what they had said.

“Please, I’ve won before.” Keith pointed out, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back a bit in his seat as he looked over at Pidge. This caused the small freshman to snort back and roll their eyes at their friend.

“Right, at Candy Land. Please, Keith, you suck at board games.” Pidge responded and the older high schooler looked away, cheeks reddening at the comment. Lance looked between the two of them and grinned. Games and movies at the same time? 

“That sounds awesome. Hunk and I do that all the time, but it starts to get a bit boring when it’s just the two of us. No offense, Hunk.” Lance responded, turning toward Hunk for a second at the end of his statement. Hunk had been his best friend for years, it was kind of hard to find new things to talk about when they had known each other for so long. Plus, the back and forth of who won and lost the games was always rather boring.

“None taken, buddy.” Hunk muttered in response, suddenly taken up by his food. With the change of conversation he finally had the opportunity to eat it. 

“Hey, you guys want to join us? It could be more interesting with four instead of two.” Pidge offered, perking up slightly at the idea of having more than two people playing the games. Keith practically choked on nothing when Pidge offered this.

“Pidge, I think two is fine.” He coughed, trying to dislodge the spittle that he had likely choked down his air pipe. The smaller teen scoffed and crossed their arms over their chest, rolling their eyes at Keith.

“C’mon, Keith. You’re just afraid you’ll lose to Lance in Clue.” Pidge accused him and Keith’s mouth dropped open in shock. How dare Pidge assume he was afraid of losing at Clue?! Clue was definitely not his best game, but his strategy was flawless, despite it not being nearly fast enough. 

“Clue? I’ve been my families champion in that game since I learned to play.” Lance boasted, pressing a hand to his chest as he said this. Keith turned, eyes narrowing and grin crossing his face. That had been a challenge if he had ever heard one.

“You are so on.” Keith growled, gathering Lance’s attention with a slight smile on his face. The darker skinned teen laughed slightly and rolled his eyes. Hunk and Pidge watched their exchange with amusement.

“Please, it’s probably not even going to be a real game.” Lance retorted sarcastically and the fire in Keith’s eyes burned brighter. Pidge chuckled and cut them off before they got into a redundant battle of ‘yes’ verses ‘no’.

“Alright, then it’s settled. I’m sure Matt and Shiro won’t be too bothered by there being four of us. We’ll just have to camp out in the living room.” Pidge said, already thinking up what the plans would be. Hunk worried over the rivalry sparked back up in Lance and Keith, but was also pleased. Was it a good thing they had a rivalry? They had been trying to be nice to each other, but that hadn’t been working out too well. 

Perhaps the rivalry was the only safe place.

 

“Pidge, are you sure this is a good idea? You know it’s going to be impossible for me to keep my cool around him.” Keith mumbled as they carried his mattress from his bedroom and out into the living room.

They had gotten permission from Shiro to camp out there as long as they didn’t stay up too late and didn’t make a lot of noise later than eleven. Matt had work Saturday morning and Shiro didn’t want them keeping him awake. Pidge insisted he could function fine on little sleep, but Shiro insisted and Keith promised he would keep them quiet after eleven.

They had already removed the coffee table to Keith’s room for the night and were taking his mattress out so that there was another spot for someone to sleep. The couch was large enough for one person, the love seat big enough for Pidge, and someone would have a nest of blankets on the floor. Keith wouldn’t have minded if that was Lance.

“Please, you guys actually talk when you’re competing. Plus, this could be so much more entertaining with the four of us. I’ve already got enough dirt on you, but I don’t know enough about Hunk and Lance.” Pidge responded, struggling under the weight of his mattress from the other end. It was almost as if Keith was just dragging it and Pidge just happened to be holding the other end.

“You’re doing this just to get blackmail material on Lance and Hunk? Geez, you’re cruel.” Keith muttered, holding back a small laugh at this. They set down his mattress before the couch and Pidge stretched backward as if getting a kink out of their back. 

“Please, Keith. That’s nothing new.” Pidge muttered before disappearing into Keith’s room again to grab the blankets. Keith only had three, but Shiro had a huge stash somewhere else in the apartment, so Keith meandered down the hallway to look in the two closets they had.

The first was between his and Shiro’s room and was small and thin. It wasn’t very deep but was rather tall, taller than the door. Keith looked it up and down but could only find the games that he and Pidge played on movie nights. It hadn’t been very long since Keith had moved in with Shiro, but it was almost as if his had been his home the whole time. It helped a lot that Pidge almost lived there.

Closing the closet he disappeared further down the hallway and to the back area, which was an L shaped hallway behind the kitchen where another close, Matt’s room, and the bathroom could be found. Shiro had made sure to convince Matt they needed a three bedroom apartment so he could adopt Keith the instant he was old enough.

It hadn’t taken a lot of convincing.

Keith opened the second close and was introduced to a whole slew of towels and blankets. Every time Keith needed a towel for his shower he could grab one of the three he stashed in his closet in his bedroom. He hadn’t even been aware Shiro had more than that and where he even kept them. But there were also the blankets they would need.

Keith grabbed a stack off a shelf and headed back toward the living room where he found his blankets piled haphazardly on the mattress and no Pidge in sight.

“Pidge?” Keith asked, dropping the blankets onto the love seat before looking into his bedroom to find they weren’t in there. “Pidge? Where’d ya go?” He called, just loud enough he would be heard through the entire apartment.

There came wriggling and muffled shouting from the pile of blankets on the mattress and Keith leaned over to frantically pull the blankets off of Pidge, who took a deep breath and sat up the instant they were free.

“Keith, dude, your blankets are heavy.” Pidge huffed, finally catching their breath completely before getting up and looking at what else he had grabbed.

“They don’t seem that bad to me.” Keith responded, getting up himself to grab what had been in his room and lay them out on the floor next to the mattress. The blankets provided a rather thick layer on the ground, which was nice and comfortable looking. At least Lance wouldn’t be too put out. It looked pretty nice.

“Yeah, well, I’ve not made of muscle.” Pidge muttered as they picked up the top blanket and threw it onto the pile Keith had made, adding to the cushion. Keith helped by dumping the rest onto the pile as well and then grabbing a couple more for the mattress and the couches. As he laid out the last blanket there came a knock on the door, which Pidge jumped over the couch to answer.

“The party has arrived!” Lance exclaimed, stepping into the small apartment and taking it all in. Hunk came in behind him, smiling and waving at Pidge and Keith as he did so. Despite his rather outgoing nature, Hunk came off as timid compared to Lance and it was amusing.

“The party doesn’t just arrive. I’m pretty sure you have to start a party.” Keith muttered, heading toward the game closet to grab Clue from the shelves so they could get to playing as soon as possible. 

“Pfft, Keith, it’s just a saying. I’m the party, obviously.” Lance pointed out, pushing against the heels of his shoes to slide them off his feet and kick them off to the side, away from the door. “I mean, Hunk can be a bit of the party, but it’s mostly me.” Lance added on, waving his hands around and dropping the plastic bag he was carrying onto the table so he could free up his hands. Hunk dropped a second bag onto the table and followed him inside as Pidge closed the door.

“Lance, I doubt you’re the party. You should see Keith on a sugar high.” Pidge laughed as they closed the door and began digging through the bags Lance and Hunk had brought. There were sodas and candies and a couple strangely packaged items. Pidge pulled out a pack of something wrapped in tinfoil as Keith protested.

“I don’t get sugar highs!” Keith exclaimed as Lance looked Keith up and down as if he could see the sugar high on him. He looked surprised, as did Hunk, as if Keith had only one setting and that was grumpy emo guy. Which was basically true if you didn’t know Keith very well.

“You do, trust me, buddy. Lance, what is this?” Pidge asked, ignoring Keith’s mouth as it flapped open and shut like a fish out of water. Lance turned to look at the tinfoil wrapping in Pidge’s hand and smiled.

“Homemade churros. My mom insisted she make some. I didn’t exactly protest.” Lance explained as Pidge began unwrapping them to release the hot, sticky sweet smell into the apartment. Keith almost felt himself drooling at the smell and Pidge was literally drooling. 

“We should save those for later. Best for last.” Hunk suggested, grabbing the packaging from Pidge and wrapping it back up as the smaller teen tried protesting.

“C’mon, Hunk! Thos smell great, and they’re bound to go cold fast.” Pidge exclaimed, reaching and jumping as Hunk held them out of the way and pushed past their small, fighting hands. 

“Yeah, well, I know from experience you save the best for last. Especially when it’s Lance’s mom’s churros.” Hunk stated matter-of-factly as he pushed the churros as far back onto a high cupboard as he could manage. Pidge watched this action with an appalled expression on their face.

“You monster. You know I can’t reach that high.” Pidge growled, crossing their arms angrily over their chest. There seemed to be a silent cue for the adults to enter the room, Matt trailing behind Shiro with his nose in the air.

“What is that amazing smell?” Matt asked before Shiro even had a chance to speak. They had promised to hole themselves up in their rooms for the entire night and not interrupt the ‘kids’ game night. Keith and Pidge protested being called kids. 

“Lance’s mom’s churros. We’re saving them for later, though.” Hunk explained and Shiro nodded, his face reading understanding. Matt seemed a bit disappointed as well, but he turned to head back toward his room without another word.

“Don’t have too much fun, alright, guys?” Shiro said and Keith rolled his eyes. Lance looked almost awestruck but nodded in agreement along with Hunk. “Also, I can hear everything from my room.” Shiro said before turning away, ignoring the groan Keith let out after the comment. 

“Don’t worry, Shiro, nothing but some friendly competition.” Lance commented before nudging Keith and turning toward the set up. He looked it over with an approving look on his face. Pidge ignored his looking over everything and grabbed the board game before sitting down on the smaller couch and pulling the lid off.

“I call the couch!” Lance exclaimed, throwing his jacket off and dropping his back pack onto the floor before vaulting over the back of the couch. Keith followed him quickly, eyes narrowing in anger.

“Nope! I had the couch first!” Keith protested, throwing himself over the couch as well before Lance had the chance to lay down and claim it with his full body. There was a slight bounce in the couch as Keith landed and Lance practically rolled right into him before Keith shoved him over.

“I didn’t hear you call dibs.” Lance pointed out, leaning as close to the other armrest as he could manage. Keith scoffed, appalled Lance would think he needed to call dibs.

“I don’t need to, this is my house.” Keith protested, leaning backward against the other armrest to face Lance as he argued his point. Hunk joined them all by sitting on the mattress on the floor without a second thought. He looked up at Pidge as the smaller teen unpacked the game but didn’t make eye contact. This was normal for Lance and Keith and they should be pleased they were at least talking to each other.

“No, this is Shiro’s house. You just live here.” Lance retorted, folding his arms over his chest defensively as Pidge laid out the game pieces and shuffled the cards in their individual decks. 

“Exactly! That’s like saying you can’t call dibs at your house because it’s technically your dad’s house.” Keith explained, throwing his hands out as he tried to formulate his words properly. Pidge offered out a deck to Hunk and he took a card before handing it to Pidge without looking. Pidge slipped the weapon of choice into the envelope before shuffling the murderer. 

“Yeah, well, I’ve lived there my whole life. You’ve only been here for a month.” Lance pointed out and Keith felt his blood really begin to boil before Pidge shoved the deck into his face, face down so he couldn’t see them.

“Choose a murderer.” Pidge instructed Keith, leaving no room for protest. Keith did as he was instructed and selected a card before giving it to Pidge to put into the envelope. He glared at Lance and was about to snap something back when Pidge shoved the final deck into Lance’s face. “The room.” Was all Pidge said this time and Lance turned his full body toward the deck, selecting one as if it was a careful process.

Pidge slipped the final card into the envelope and then placed it into the pool room before picking up the green playing piece and put it onto the green starting tile.

“Alright. I’m green.” Pidge informed them before taking the three decks and shuffling them thoroughly as Hunk grabbed the yellow piece and placed it onto the tile colored for that piece.

“I’m definitely blue.” Lance exclaimed, grabbing Ms. Peacock’s piece and placing it on the blue tile. Keith didn’t even protest as he grabbed Ms. Scarlet’s piece and placed it on her proper square, Lance snorting as if something was funny.

“What? Something wrong with me being red?” Keith challenged, looking at Lance as Pidge placed the tiny, metal weapon replicas into different rooms on the board. 

“No, just if you’re alright with being the seductress.” Lance laughed, his nose scrunching up as he did so. The look he was giving Keith made Keith’s heart skip a beat, but he ignored it, trying to brush it off as annoyance. That was the only explanation, right?

“Nothing anywhere said she’s a seductress. Anyway, your piece is a woman, too.” Keith protested, feeling himself turn a little red. Ms. Scarlet wasn’t a seductress, she was a proper lady. There was nothing anywhere that said otherwise.

“Her name is Ms. Scarle, of course she’s a seductress. It’s not like it’s Ms. Red or Ms. Rose.” Lance explained before sticking his nose into the air and turning away from Keith. “Anyway, Ms. Peacock is a proper lady.” Lance protested and Keith was about to continue the argument before Pidge stopped him by handing him the die.

“Dude, it’s your turn.” Keith jumped as they shoved their hand toward his face, the die sitting in their palm for him to take.

“Oh.” Keith muttered, taking the dice from Pidge’s hand, still shocked at the sudden fact that he was moving. Looking down at the board he realized that both Hunk and Pidge had moved their pieces. The game was already in play. 

“Wait, what about our hint cards? And who decided I was going last?” Lance protested as Keith rolled the die and moved his player four places, not enough to enter a room. He handed the die to Lance, who ignored them for a moment in wait for Pidge’s answer.

“They’re right there. Neither of you were paying attention, so we gave you cards and then just decided to go counter clockwise.” Pidge responded, pointing with both hands toward the small stack of cards that had been placed, face down, before both Lance and Keith. 

“But why am I last?” Lance whined, grabbing the die from Keith with a little bit of attitude before rolling them. Pidge rolled their eyes as Lance moved his piece one spot, pouting as he picked up the paper to mark off which cards he had. 

“I just told you, neither of you were paying attention. It was just faster to start with me and then go to Hunk. That just happened to be counter clockwise, making you last.” Pidge grumbled, Lance’s pouty attitude getting on their nerves as they took the die and rolled themselves a six. Keith grumbled at Pidge’s luck with the die. It seemed to be a something they were gifted with, getting good rolls and winning easily. 

“Fine. I can still win as the last player.” Lance mumbled, watching Pidge drop their character into a room and take a wild guess at the three things in the envelope. Hunk shuffled through his cards and handed Pidge one to look at before Pidge pushed it back.

For the rest of the game they played like normal, Lance’s pouting dying down the longer the game continued. For the first half of the game he incessantly accused Ms. Scarlet of being the murderer until he stopped guessing with her and just used random players. At first, Keith had assumed that his using Ms. Scarlet to guess had been to get at Keith, but when he switched suddenly he realized Lance was using his strategy by using the same weapon and same person over and over to figure out which room it was before moving on to the other items.

Lance was being smart.

However, it wasn’t Lance or Keith who won. It wasn’t even Pidge. Hunk pulled it off as he accused Mr. White in the Dining Room with the rope in the pool area, pulling out the cards and tossing them toward the board with a victory ‘whoop’, as if having just won a hand in poker.

Pidge groaned along with Keith and Lance as Hunk stood and grabbed the snacks from the table, bringing them toward the rest of the group. 

“Victor gets first choice in snacks.” Hunk said, grabbing a fistful of Reese’s peanut butter cups from the bag, dropping them into the middle of his crossed legs before tossing the bag into the middle of the group.

“Keith, start up the movie, I’m getting those churros.” Pidge instructed, standing up defiantly before turning toward the cupboard Hunk left the churros on. Keith knew it wouldn’t take them too long before they figure out how to get the churros down, so he turned on the TV and hit the menu button on the remote to get to Netflix where he pulled up a classic. 

Lance leaned back onto the couch while he did this, eyes closed to take in whatever it was he was feeling as Hunk unwrapped another Reese’s and popped it into his mouth. The old, tinny sound of an 80’s movies opening music sounded and Lance opened his eyes. The darker skinned teen sat up abruptly as Keith leaned back, an appalled expression on his face.

“Is this a cryptid?” Lance exclaimed as the title disappeared and the movie began. There was a cheesy voice over of a narrator as the scenes began to appear on the screen.

“Yeah. It’s a classic. Got a problem with it?” Keith asked as he crossed his arms over his chest to get comfortable. Lance flapped his mouth open and closed a few times as Pidge returned, triumphant, with the churros. 

“None of these are real, you know that, right?” Lance protested, turning his full body to look at Keith, who narrowed his eyes and frowned deeply.

“There’s plenty of evidence.” Keith retorted, looking Lance in the eyes as he said it, earning a flabbergasted look from the taller teen. Lance protested with plenty of evidence against the cryptids, but Keith shot back with the evidence for. The two barely watched the movie as Hunk and Pidge helped themselves to a few churros and talked about how stupid Lance and Keith were.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: Lance and Keith actually talk


	11. Late Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance and Keith are the last ones awake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made myself tired writing this one, guys. It's really short, please bear with me. The next four chapters will be longer!

The only sound in the dimly lit room was the faint tones of the old music playing in the background of the documentary and Hunk’s snoring. Lance had long since stopped griping about having to watch movies about cryptids and had gone entirely silent. He was still next to Keith on the couch, legs pulled up to his chest, chin resting on his knees. He looked like he was asleep, his eyes closed, his breathing even, but every time Keith was sure he had fallen asleep, he’d blink them open to look at the screen for a few seconds.

Throughout the first movie, Pidge and Hunk had talked to each other about some highly technological junk neither Keith nor Lance understood nor cared to listen to. Instead, the two had managed to argue their way through the entire first movie. Every time new evidence popped up, Lance had evidence against it and Keith would protest that Lance was just pulling at strings. 

During the second movie, Pidge had talked about something so long, Hunk’s muttered acknowledgments and agreements died into snores and soon enough Pidge was left to simply watch the movie, unable to have a civil conversation since Keith and Lance were still going at it. Albeit a tad bit lazily, considering Lance seemed tired of Keith’s insistence that what they were watching was true and Keith was tired of Lance trying to prove him wrong. It was an annoying cycle.

So by the time they had started the third movie, a documentary about the Loch Ness Monster, the entire room was pretty much dead. Pidge had fallen asleep while the movies had been changed out and Lance had drawn closer to himself while the title sequence played. He made no comments about the Loch Ness Monster being fake or even griped at Keith for thinking it was real. The first twenty minutes or so were spent in bliss, until Keith got a little antsy about Lance’s silence. 

He didn’t want to be the last one awake.

From the looks Lance was giving, he was falling asleep. Keith enjoyed the lack of protest from the other teen, but something about it made him uncomfortable as well. Periodically he would glance over at Lance to see if his eyes were open or not. Most of the time he would end up staring at the smooth, almost magically perfect skin of Lance’s face until the darker skinned teen opened his eyes and Keith snapped his attention back to the screen.

This, too, was an annoying cycle.

After another small break where the commercial break would have been if this was playing on a channel, Keith decided to speak up, wary of the sudden silence Lance had given him.

“Do you believe in the Loch Ness Monster?” Keith whispered, not sure entirely why he was whispering. He knew Pidge was a heavy sleeper and, from his complete inability to wake up when Pidge shook him, he figured Hunk was as well. There was just something about whispering that seemed much more…necessary.

“Actually, yeah. There’s something about her that fascinates me.” Lance muttered tiredly in response, Keith’s head snapping in his direction at the unexpected response. Lance’s eyes flicked in his direction for a moment before he smirked and Keith looked away, heart skipping a beat. 

“We all have something we want to believe in that no one else does, Keith. If yours just happens to be every cryptid ever imagined, then so be it.” Lance whispered, rolling his eyes as he looked away from Keith and back toward the TV screen. For a moment, Keith just let this thought sink in. He had always believed in the cryptids. Most of it had been because he thought there needed to be someone to believe in them. Eventually, this had morphed into true belief and Keith had never been able to back out since. 

“Then what is it you want to believe in?” Keith whispered back, the question hanging in the air. The movie continued to play before them, but Keith was very much aware that neither of them were watching it anymore. After what felt like too long, Keith took a look at Lance, wondering why he hadn’t answered the question. All he saw was Lance’s face buried in his knees, his eyes completely out of sight, his shoulders heaving big, shaky sighs.

“Lance? Did I say something wrong?” Keith asked, scooting over on the couch until he felt Lance’s warmth against his side. He hesitated for a moment before changing his mind about wrapping an arm around Lance’s shoulders. That would have been too much, he supposed. 

For a moment there was still silence until Lance shook his head and looked up, resting his cheek awkwardly on his knees so he was looking right at Keith. His beautiful blue eyes were marred by the red in his eyes and the water dripping around the edges. Keith’s breath caught at the sight of this in the dim light given off by the TV. He was both the most beautiful and sad thing Keith had ever seen. It made his heart ache.

“No. No, you didn’t, it’s fine.” Lance reassured him, rubbing a hand across his cheeks and over his eyes to get rid of the rest of the tears that were there. He sighed gently when he finished, closing his eyes but leaving his head where it was. “The one thing I want most to believe in is myself, Keith.” He added on, whisper barely audible over the drone of the TV’s noise.

“What? Wait, you said everyone has something they want to believe in that no one else does. You don’t count, Lance. Everyone who knows you already believes in you.” Keith protested unsure what to do, once again placed in a situation he hadn’t ever desired to be in. It was like that one day at Lance’s house. It was almost as if that had never happened. 

“Don’t be silly, no one really needs me. I’m just comedic relief.” Lance muttered, eyes not opening as he said this. Keith felt like someone had just stabbed him in the chest, the pain and blood rushing all to one spot and draining from the rest of his body. He punched Lance in the shoulder. Hard.

“Ow! Geez, what was that for?” Lance snapped to attention rather quickly, sitting up straight and rubbing his shoulder where Keith’s knuckles had hit. Keith grabbed Lance on either side of his face and turned his eyes toward him. 

“Stop talking like that. Look at me.” Keith demanded, his voice threatening to rise above a whisper as Lance’s eyes avoided his. “I’m here, Hunk and Pidge are here, Shiro’s in the other room but he’s here. Heck, even Matt’s here. Why would we let you in if we didn’t care about you? Even Matt seems to like you, even though you’ve only met once.” Keith insisted, holding fast to Lance’s face against the teens constant struggling.

It was a good thing the room was dim, because both of them were red as lobsters and only getting redder. 

“Twice.” Lance muttered, his attempts to speak marred slightly by Keith’s hands on his cheeks. Keith let go and Lance massaged his cheeks a bit. 

“Twice?” He repeated, and Lance nodded, scooting away from Keith a little bit, as if it was uncomfortable to be so close to the other teen. Keith suddenly realized it had been. Why had he been so close? 

“Yeah. Hunk and I ran into him and Pidge at the mall a while back.” Lance muttered, avoiding looking at Keith as he casually relayed this information. Keith pulled his knees to his chest and hugged them there, avoiding looking at Lance.

“What did you guys do?” Keith asked, trying his best to sound curious. It seemed Lance was avoiding little heart-to-hearts, something Keith wasn’t very good at. Maybe those should be left up to Hunk or Shiro. Keith figured what Lance needed was a friend. Maybe even someone who pretended his anxiety didn’t exist every once in a while. 

“Not much. Pidge wanted to check out a new game console and Hunk decided he wanted to tag along. It was too packed, so Matt and I stepped out. Then we went to Round One and played around a bit. Nothing too crazy.” Lance muttered, his voice sounding a bit too conversational, like he was avoiding speaking in any other manner. 

“Wait, you went to Round One!? How did you play any games?” Keith demanded, voice rising a bit before he dropped it back to a whisper when Hunk shifted in his sleep. Lance glanced over and shrugged.

“Pidge said they had money left over from selling a computer.” Lance responded, his expression clearly a bit quizzical. Keith was now infuriated. 

“Pidge promised we would go to Round One with that money!” Keith hissed, now not nearly as concerned with keeping his voice low. Still, it remained at a whisper level and he only glared at the lump of Pidge’s sleeping body on the smaller couch.

“I’m sure they’ll get more eventually. They’re smart.” Lance muttered, and Keith turned to look at him as he rested his chin on his hand. His gaze was also directed toward Pidge, but it was more fond than furious. Keith had only seen Lance look at Hunk this way, but now he was staring at Pidge with the same, kind hearted expression. Keith turned away and watched as the movie concluded about how the team would continue to look for new evidence in the future.

There was a long pause as the ancient music droned over the credits and the two watched the screen with little interest. Keith rested his head on his knees, Lance’s head on his hand, the two saying nothing and not making any moves as thoughts ran listlessly through their heads.

“Hey, Lance.” Keith muttered, head and eyes feeling a bit droopy as Lance hummed a very faint sound of acknowledgement. “Why do you hate yourself?” Keith asked, tilting his head so that his cheek rested on his knees and his face was looking at Lance. The other teen was still resting his chin in his hand, but his eyes were closed as if he was sleeping. 

“Why are you always angry?” Lance retorted, voice not angry but rather matter-of-fact. Keith grunted in response, realizing where he was getting with this. Keith sighed, turning to look away again.

“Because life hates me, so I hate life back.” Keith muttered and the sound of Lance shifting could be heard through the rustling of his clothes. The couch bounced slightly as well, but Keith remained where he was, staring at the credits rolling up the screen. 

“Keith, I’m sure life doesn’t hate you. So you had a small bout of bad luck, but now look where you are. How is this life hating you?” Lance murmured and Keith turned his head back to Lance, so the soft look on his face, to his dark skin in the dim light from the TV. 

“Thanks, Lance. I suppose you’re right.” Keith muttered before sighing deeply, mind groggily trying to say something else, unaware that Lance had just turned shades of red unimaginable to man. “You never answered my question.” Keith asked after a while, closing his eyes, fighting his sleepiness and attempting desperately to stay awake long enough for the conversation to end. 

“Well, because life hates me, so why can’t I hate me?” Lance muttered and Keith felt a growl rise in his throat, his eyes opening slowly to glare at Lance where he sat, facing Keith with his full body.

“Lance, if life doesn’t hate me, it definitely doesn’t hate you. Look at where you are, all the people that care about you, how is this life hating you?” Keith said, and Lance appeared to be trying not to cry. He shook his head against what Keith said and closed his eyes, leaning his head backward against the armrest on the couch.

“Why are you doing this, Keith?” Lance asked, head not moving from where it was as he said it. Keith shrugged, forgetting for a moment that Lance couldn’t see him.

“Because you’re my friend, Lance. I can be nice to you if I want to.” Keith muttered and Lance chuckled, the tiredness in the sound clearly evident. 

“I guess we were never really rivals, huh?” Lance muttered and Keith let out an indifferent groan of agreement, eyes drooping shut, body leaning into the armrest to his left. The conversation ended there as both fell asleep on the couch, unaware they would wake up in the morning to Pidge and Hunk laughing their heads off because both Keith and Lance were cuddlers when they slept and they would end up on top of each other. But sleep was all that was on their minds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess I could have combined this with the last chapter. Oh well
> 
> Next time: Hunk and Pidge decide they need to push Lance and Keith together


	12. Dry Skin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hunk and Pidge play games with Lance and Keith.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is officially the longest chapter in the fic! Woohoo!

“So what, if I’m a cuddler, Hunk? You know that better than anyone.” Lance muttered, grumpy that Hunk was still getting a kick out of the impromptu cuddle session between Keith and Lance over the weekend. Pidge had made sure they had gotten pictures before waking the two up with their laughter, so the smaller teen finally had more than one scoop of dirt on Lance. But there was no harm in being a cuddler!

“Yeah, I’ve had my fair share of sleepovers where I woke up with you on top of me. But he was on top of you!” Hunk exclaimed, laughing as they approached the school. It was early in the morning on a Monday. Hunk hadn’t seemed capable of dropping the whole thing since it had happened, which meant Lance knew he was never living it down and Hunk was never forgetting it. Blackmail for life. 

“So? I don’t see what the big deal is.” Lance grumbled, stepping over a curb as they approached the front entrance of the school, passing through the bus loop where one bus was already positioned, students filing off of it slowly. It wasn’t like Keith’s sleep cuddling had any meaning. 

“I dunno, it was just really funny. Not even Pidge knew Keith was a sleep cuddler. Though, this is going to be great to bring up for the next several years.” Hunk chuckled and Lanced huffed, looking away from his friend and deciding it was best to just drop the conversation. They were amongst their fellow students now and Lance didn’t want any of them hearing about his sleepover with Keith over the weekend. Rumors spread fast and when it was Lance and the Galra Academy transfer student, it was bound to spread like wildfire.

The throng of students around them wasn’t very thick and allowed Lance room enough to cool off, putting on his favorite face and feeling his favorite feeling: joy. School was so amazing with all the people there. Waving here and there he greeted all of his friends and shot finger guns at all the pretty ladies and eyed a couple of the pretty boys. Sure, he thought they were just as attractive as the girls, but he knew that most of them were straight and he wasn’t about to be rude and flirt openly with them. Ruining reputations wasn’t his style.

“Hunk!” There came a call from somewhere ahead of them as they headed toward the cafeteria. Something small was pushing its way through the crowd ahead of them, heads parting and looking down as it passed. Within seconds a small Pidge popped out of the crowd and stopped before them.

“Hey, Pidge. What’s up?” Hunk asked, his tone level and curios. Lance looked down at Pidge, who had a wide grin on their face as if completely overjoyed. The look was completely innocent to anyone else, but something about it unsettled Lance. Pidge didn’t just grin out of pure joy, did they? Lance had never seen them do it. Plus, what would make them so happy that they would grin so big anyway? Was it tech related? If so, Lance didn’t really want to hear it.

“I need your help with something.” Pidge stated simply before grabbing Hunk by the wrist and dragging him away from Lance and through the crowd to somewhere else. 

“Hey!” Lance called after them, watching as Hunk stumbled a bit, trying to keep up with his smaller friend. All Lance got from Hunk as he was pulled away was a shrug and a small salute. Lance huffed and frowned deeply as Hunk disappeared into the crowd. “Geez, fine. Ditch me. I see how it is.” Lance muttered, starting forward again in the same general direction he had seen Hunk and Pidge go. The cafeteria had filled up considerably and there were students bustling everywhere with breakfast in their hands or simply just talking with friends. It was a calming atmosphere and Lance enjoyed seeing it every morning.

Heading further into the cafeteria he spotted a familiar head of black hair and decided it was best to talk to someone he knew, even if Hunk was the best choice. Still, he stepped up to Keith and joined him in leaning against the table he was practically sitting on.

“Hey, Keith.” Lance muttered, throwing his head back as he said this and closing his eyes against the bright lights above them. There was a small moment of silence and frantic movements beside him, but he didn’t open his eyes to see.

“Lance! Uh, hey…um, hi, Lance…hi.” Keith sputtered and at this, Lance did look down to see Keith wasn’t looking directly at him. Pfft, was he still flustered about the stupid cuddling thing? Lance got over silly things like that all the time. Whenever he had sleepovers, he was always found cuddling with whoever he slept next to. Even if it meant he ended up on the floor, Lance had always found a way to cuddle in the night without intending to. 

“Dude, sleep cuddling isn’t that big of a deal. Sure, Pidge and Hunk will have dirt on us for years, but that’s not anything new.” Lance muttered, staring straight ahead of himself as he said it, unaware of the deep shade of red Keith took on when Lance mentioned the sleep cuddling. 

“I’ve, uh, I’ve never sleep cuddled before.” Keith admitted and Lance felt his heart skip a beat. Never sleep cuddled? Turning his head, eyebrows creased in confusion, Lance looked over at Keith, who still seemed to adamantly refuse to look at him.

“Never? You have had sleepovers before, haven’t you?” Lance asked and the instant the question left his mouth he realized how rude he sounded. Keith’s jaw clenched and he shook his head, clearly trying his best to hold back any angry retort he had concocted.

“No one exactly liked me, Lance. I was also moving from house to house, so it was a little hard to have a sleepover.” Keith spat, looking as he was trying very hard not to yell at Lance about it. Immediately, Lance felt really guilty and shook his hands apologetically.

“Sorry! I forgot! Um, but, you didn’t even have sleepovers with Pidge?” Lance asked, hoping desperately that he wasn’t overstepping any bounds by expanding the question further. Keith appeared to visibly relax at this question. 

“Yeah, I guess we did a few times. But it was always at their house, so I was always on the floor.” Keith muttered in response, sounding less agitated than before. Lance relaxed, glad to have brought the conversation back to comfortable ground. Geez, being nice to Keith was like walking around eggshells he had only caught a glimpse of. One wrong move and he would crack a few more. 

“That makes sense. Whenever I had sleepovers with Hunk, if he was on the bed, he was safe. But if I was on the bed, I would still wake up on top of him.” Lance explained with a laugh, and Keith looked up, eyes completely at ease now, a small smile on his face. Lance held back a visible sigh of relief that he had managed to mend the conversation quickly. It would have been really bad if he had managed to make the whole thing awkward within only a few minutes.

Without fair warning, the bell began to ring, successfully making Lance jump. Keith appeared to laugh a bit at this and Lance felt himself heat up at the sound of Keith laughing at him and frowned as he looked away.

“C’mon, we can talk and walk. We’re going to the same class anyway.” Keith offered, getting off of the table and heading forward, waiting for Lance to follow. Considering he was right, Lance did so.

“Anyway, uh, yeah, my sleep cuddling is a bad habit that I can’t seem to break.” Lance muttered as they walked, their math class almost on the other side of the campus from the cafeteria. Keith nodded and appeared to be musing over this as they walked, Lance only a couple of steps behind Keith to keep from running into people going the other direction. 

“So, if, I had been sleeping on the couch and you ended up on the floor, I would have probably still ended up cuddling with you?” Keith asked and Lance thought about this seriously for a moment before nodding. 

“Heh, yeah, I guess you probably would have. I would likely have been cuddling with the mattress if that wasn’t the case.” Lance responded, the sound of amusement evident in his tone. Keith felt himself turn red and he had to refrain from looking back at Lance. He needed to watch where he was going so he didn’t run into someone or something. That would not be great.

They managed most of the walk there in silence as Keith attempted not to blush at the thought of his newfound sleeping habit. Why did it have to be Lance he discovered it with? Why couldn’t it have been Pidge? At least then he would only have a few bruises and no blackmail. Pidge wasn’t one to keep dirt on themselves. 

“G’morning, Keith! Lance, you look well!” Their overly enthusiastic math teacher normally greeted every student individually when they entered his classroom. His enthusiastic attitude was intoxicating, and Lance felt himself become happier just hearing him speak.

“’Morning, Mr. Altea!” Lance greeted, giving a fake salute to the man as he sat down at his desk, Keith plopping down right in front of him. Almost immediately, Keith turned around and rested his elbow on Lance’s desk, resting his chin on his hand after. His look was one of concentration and, for a moment, Lance felt himself get lost in it. 

“Did you ever notice that Mr. Altea’s name is the same as the city?” Keith muttered, expression coming off as too serious for this whole thing. Lance shrugged. 

“You must not have heard him tell the story. His ancestors were the ones who founded the city.” Lance responded and Keith’s eyes widened. Lance felt himself smirk over this, finding it amusing that Mr. Altea hadn’t mention his famous story in class yet. That or neither of them had been paying any attention. “Yeah. Did you know the hot librarian is his cousin?” Lance asked and Keith appeared to choke on nothing, breaking into a coughing fit.

“Keith, buddy, you alright?” Lance asked, leaning over to try and get a better look at Keith as the Asian teen leaned over to cough away from Lance’s face. Keith waved a hand at Lance before taking a deep breath and nodding.

“Yeah, it’s just, hard to believe that Allura’s related to that guy.” Keith coughed one more time, Lance’s face twisting into a confused look. Allura? Was that her first name? Lance had never heard anyone address her as Allura before. But wait, why was the name familiar?

“You call her by her first name?” Lance asked as Keith finally caught his breath completely and leaned over onto Lance’s desk again. Keith nodded, shooting Lance his own confused look. 

“Yeah. She’s Shiro’s girlfriend, remember?” Keith responded and Lance felt himself choke on nothing this time. That was why her name sounded familiar! It was Keith’s story about why Shiro was mad at practice that one day. And any other time Keith had mentioned Shiro’s situation, which was a lot more frequent than Lance really cared about.

“Your brother’s going out with the hottest person on the planet?” Lance asked, incredulous voice giving away his jealousy. Keith smirked and nodded, his smugness clearly written on his face. Lance felt offended that Keith assumed he remembered these kinds of things. It was just a random story. Lance didn’t normally remember pretty girl’s names unless he had seen them, so knowing Ms. Altea as Allura was weird. 

“Alrighty, class! Let’s get started for today!” Mr. Altea exclaimed and Keith turned around to face toward the front of the room, leaving Lance in awe of Shiro’s sheer power. How had he managed to get the hottest girl on Earth to go out with him? Maybe it was his own power of hotness. Shiro wasn’t exactly hard to look at. 

The rest of the day was spent in mostly silence. Keith didn’t see Lance any other time of the day except lunch, where they ate together alone because Pidge and Hunk were nowhere to be found. It was a little upsetting that their best friends had ditched them for each other, but it wasn’t like they were silent the whole time.

Most of it was spent actually bonding a little bit, and Keith enjoyed having conversations about soccer teams and who the best players were. Lance seemed rather partial to certain Cuban and Brazilian players while Keith felt heavily biased toward the Asian continent. Granted, he had to admit that Lance’s players were the top of the charts, considering they came from countries where soccer was more of a way of life than a game. 

Their argument was brought to a close when Hunk finally showed up with Pidge in tow and Lance turned to look at them, a grumpy expression crossing his face as the betrayers approached. 

“Did we interrupt the lover’s quarrel?” Pidge snarked, grinning maniacally as Lance’s mouth flapped absently and Keith’s face turned red and looked away from the smaller teen. Hunk couldn’t help a small chuckle at their responses. When Lance finally collected himself he stuck his nose in the air snootily.

“I don’t see why you would think it’s okay to sit with us after what you’ve done.” Lance muttered like a smug British person. Keith snorted at the way he spoke and Lance felt his heart skip a beat as he did. 

With not a lot of time left in lunch, Pidge and Hunk explained why they kept disappearing in a not so convincing manner while Keith and Lance pretended to be offended by their treachery. It was so amusing, Keith felt himself smiling about it for the rest of the day.

In fact, he was still smiling when he trotted down the cement stairs to the locker room for practice. Lance and Hunk were there with a few other students, but Shiro was the first to see Keith. The instant he saw his brother he grabbed his sleeve and pulled him into the office.

“Why are you smiling?” Shiro asked, almost like an interrogator at a police station. Keith scoffed at his brother and crossed his arms over his chest, his attempts to not smile failing as he tried to act snarky with his brother.

“I can’t smile?” Keith muttered, trying hard to not sound like he was ready to laugh about something. He and Lance had messed around at lunch and it was awesome to feel some kind of connection with the Cuban boy. He was so funny, and creative, it was nice knowing Keith had been allowed to be a part of it.

“Of course you can smile. You just, don’t normally. Especially not a grin this…bright.” Shiro explained, his face looking a bit confused as he said this. He was still curious about why Keith looked so happy, but Keith wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of an answer.

“Well, then there should be nothing wrong with me doing it now.” Keith muttered before turning promptly from the room and heading toward his locker to change. Shiro watched him go, look of confusion on his face. 

Once he was done getting ready he was down on the field, the first one there, as usual. He juggled the soccer ball around a bit as he waited for more people to show up. The first to join him was Lance, which had become a habit since the first time the darker skinned teen had done it. Keith kicked the ball lightly toward Lance in a manner that allowed it to soar through the air smoothly and land at his feet with only a small bounce.

“Hey, did you see Hunk when you were in the locker room?” Lance asked and Keith nodded, confusion creasing his brow as Lance lightly tapped the ball back in his direction.

“Yeah, he was with you. Why, did you not see him?” Keith asked and Lance shrugged a bit before looking back up the hill toward the locker room door. A couple of people had come out of it but were taking their time to get down to the field. 

“He was there for a little bit, but then he ran off and didn’t come back before I finished getting ready.” Lance explained as Keith lazily kicked the ball back at him. Lance caught it tiredly with his feet and Keith shrugged before looking back up at the door to spot Shiro coming out.

“There he is, he’s with Shiro.” Keith said, pointing his finger to where he spotted Shiro in his signature outfit with Hunk tagging along beside him. It was easy to tell it was Hunk was the distance they were at, since he was almost the same height as Shiro and about as wide. It was also because of his dark skin that he stuck out from the others as obviously Hunk.

“Huh, I wonder what he was doing.” Lance muttered as the freshman came bursting from the locker room and began to sprint down the hill. Shiro shouted to them as they went to not run down the hill. It was rather steep and had many bumps and cracks in it. But the sheer drop made one just want to run, despite how dangerous it was. Especially considering it was paved as a sidewalk for those going up to the school. It would leave more than bruises for any of those who fell while running on it. 

Luckily the freshmen made it down without any harm coming to them but they didn’t escape a good scolding from Shiro when he reached the bottom of the hill. After the freshmen had been properly reprimanded for their actions, the practice commenced as it usually did. 

The whole team ran several drills to improve speed and scoring accuracy. Lance felt Keith glancing his way every now and then and, when he finally looked over, he realized Keith was giving him a ‘bring it on’ look. Lance returned the expression and soon they were competing, neck in neck, to be the best at the drills. Keith won most of them, but Lance was close second. 

“Alright team, that was a great practice for today. Get some rest and prepare yourselves. Practices are only going to get harder. Our game against Galra is only a few days away, so we have to work our tails off if we want to beat them.” Shiro called out, his reminder about the whole Galra thing dimming the competitive mood in both Keith and Lance. 

“Get changed, go home, and rest. You’ll need all your energy. Dismissed.” Shiro called and the team began lightly jogging or walking toward the locker room. The trek up the hill was a hard one, but Lance gave one look to Keith and soon they were both running up it like madmen, Keith trying his hardest not to laugh out of the pure joy he was getting from this. 

Lance was awesome. 

They reached the locker room first, but they were hot and sweaty and their legs were ready to give out underneath them. For a while, they were the only ones in the locker room and, when it seemed like no one would show, Keith called out over the other lockers.

“I didn’t think we were that fast.” He said and there was a dull grunt in response from Lance, who must have been much more sore than Keith thought. With a shrug, he grabbed his towel and headed toward the showers just as the first of the team began to trickle into the locker room, laughing but tired. 

Tiredly, he twisted the water onto a warm-ish trickle and let it run over his body for a few minutes, taking deep breaths to calm his muscles. When he heard the sound of water turning on somewhere nearby he opened his eyes to find Lance facing away from him at another shower. Immediately Keith felt his heart skip a beat and he looked away, avoiding looking at Lance.

With a sigh, he ducked his head under the water to let the great feeling of the liquid run over his entire body. The feeling of it running through his hair was amazing, he almost forgot he was in the shower until the sound of something turning off woke him from his reverie.

He could have sworn he’d opened his eyes.

Pushing his hands forward tentatively he found the handles to turn the water off and let the water slowly trickle to a stop. From the lack of running water, he figured Lance had also turned his water off. 

“Um, Lance?” Keith spoke up, hoping desperately that Lance was in there somewhere and he wasn’t the only one standing in the showers in the middle of the dark locker room. 

“Keith? Dude, I didn’t think they’d catch you in this.” Lance’s voice wasn’t very far away from where Keith was standing and he felt himself involuntarily shuffling forward toward the sound of it. 

“’This’? What’s ‘this’?” Keith asked, shuffling a bit more forward, trying his best not to make noise, hoping Lance wouldn’t find it weird that he was trying to get closer. Keith wasn’t necessarily afraid of the dark, but he had no idea where anything was and it was kind of frightening.

“Hunk and Shiro do this to me sometimes when I’m slow getting ready. I could have sworn the rest of the team was still in the locker room, though.” Lance responded, his voice sounding closer. Okay, so Keith was almost to him.

“This is normal?” Keith asked, voice incredulous that Shiro was actually kind of a funny guy. He could see this as something Pidge would pull off, but not Shiro or Hunk. Wait, Pidge and Hunk had spent most of the day together. Oh geez. 

“Yeah, though they’ve never done it when I’m in here with someone.” Lance responded, voice sounding interested and yet not. It was clearly very normal for this to happen, based on the way he was speaking. 

“I think it was Pidge’s idea.” Keith muttered, taking another wary step forward, not exactly sure how close he was to Lance. There was a gasp from somewhere immediately ahead of him and he stopped moving his feet.

“Oh my gosh! Those traitors! How dare they do this to us!” Lance exclaimed and Keith realized he was right in front of Lance. His voice was definitely loud enough to be right in front of him, so he stopped moving. 

“So, um, how do we get out of this?” Keith asked and there was a tiny pause, the sounds of angry mumbling definitely right in front of him. He could feel the tail ends of Lance’s breath wisping by his face. 

“I know where the lights are. You just stay here, I can get them.” Lance responded and Keith made a confused face.

“You know where the lights are in the dark?” He asked and there was a scoff from before him and Keith could almost see the look on Lance’s face.

“I told you, they do this all the time. Most of the time I have to turn the lights on myself. So I know where they are by now.” Lance muttered in response, clearly hung up over both Keith’s mistrust and the fact that Pidge and Hunk had planned this. 

“Okay, well, I’m not just going to stand here.” Keith muttered indignantly. There was a huff from before him and he both wanted the lights back on to see Lance’s face and not because he knew what he’d see.

“Keith, now is not the time to be stubborn. I’ll get the lights, just stay p-“ Lance was cut off without warning and before Keith knew it he was falling backward, his back thwaping painfully against the hard tile floor. His breath was knocked out of him and for a moment he felt himself go dizzy. There must have been black dots dancing before his eyes, but the darkness obstructed them. 

In the split second it took him to collect himself he heard a sound beside him that seemed like somewhere between a gasp and a choke. 

“Lance? What the heck just happened?” Keith demanded, his voice cracking slightly as he asked, his breath getting caught in his throat and preventing proper sound for a moment. 

“Uh, slipped. I didn’t realize you were so close.” Lance muttered, his voice sounding faint from where he was beside Keith, despite their close proximity. Lance was a bit surprised Keith wasn’t saying anything about his heartbeat, which was thudding so loud Lance was sure it was audible to anyone still in the locker room. 

“Alright, let’s go get the lights.” Keith muttered, pushing himself to his feet, rubbing his tailbone as he did. He was going to be sore for a couple of days. 

“Keith, I already told you, this job doesn’t require two of us.” Lance muttered from the ground. Keith rolled his eyes, fully aware Lance couldn’t see him do this.

“Whatever. C’mon, get up. Show me where they are.” Keith muttered and put out a hand for Lance to stand up before realizing Lance couldn’t see him. Dropping the hand he listened to the grunting sounds Lance was making as he struggled to stand.

“I dunno, Keith. After today’s practice, my legs don’t seem to want to work.” Lance muttered from the ground and Keith groaned audibly. “I’m so sorry I’m not indestructible.” Lance hissed before finally pushing himself into a shaky standing position. 

“You’re up now. Let’s go.” Keith grumbled, shooting a hand forward and making contact with skin. He felt Lance flinch from the contact but forced himself to figure out which part of the body he was touching.

“Geez, where’s your hand.” Keith muttered angrily, trying to hide just how red he was turning from this. Lance’s hand grabbed hold of Keith’s wrist without a sound, making the slightly shorter teen jump before Lance tugged him forward, no warning given. 

For a couple of steps they crossed the slick tile as if it was nothing before Keith felt cold concrete beneath his bare feet and, after several steps and without warning, the lights were back on.

“There, you came with me. Happy?” Lance grumbled, turning quickly away from Keith to head toward his locker. Keith’s mouth flapped open and closed helplessly as he watched Lance walk away from behind. In the end, he decided just to change and get to Shiro before anything else happened. 

When he passed Lance on the way out and stopped, trying to decide if he should say something. When nothing came to mind he managed a very small “see ya” before he headed out to where Shiro sat in his car, obviously waiting for Keith. 

“What took you so long?’ Shiro asked as Keith dropped into the passenger seat with an angry huff. 

“Someone turned off the lights in the locker room.” Keith hissed, looking accusingly at Shiro as he said this. His brother tried very hard to hide the smile threatening to come across his face, but it was clearly not working very well as the corners of his mouth turned up.

“Really? That sucks.” Shiro muttered , still trying hard to hold back laughter as he continued to speak.

“At least Lance knew where the light switch was.” Keith grumbled, angry his brother would stoop so low as to play such games with him. Shiro almost choked on his laughter now, voice warbling as he tried to speak evenly.

“Lance was in there with you? Did you get to tell him?” Shiro asked, leaning over a bit as he finally put the car into reverse and backed out of the parking space. This time Keith wasn’t as angry, more confused, about what Shiro was saying.

“What? Tell him what?” Keith asked as they turned right out of the Voltron High parking lot. Shiro snorted as if it should have been obvious but whipped the snarky look off his face when he saw Keith’s genuine confusion.

“That you like him?” Shiro responded, the response turning into a question as he said it. Keith felt his face turn a deep shade of red and his mouth fluttered open and closed like it had so many times earlier that day.

“What are you talking about? I mean yeah, he’s a good friend. That’s about it.” Keith spluttered, face remaining red as he considered how Shiro might not mean what he thought he was getting at. Shiro rolled his eyes, face remaining toward the road.

“Did I ever get around to talking with you about this stuff?” Shiro asked as they turned around corner and Keith turned another shade of pink darker, as if that was even possible at that point.

“Shiro, I’m sixteen! I know everything already, you don’t need to talk to me about it.” Keith continued to splutter like a fish out of water and Shiro had stopped finding it amusing. 

“Not sex, Keith. Geez. No, love.” Shiro responded as they drove down a long stretch of road. Keith opened his mouth to respond, but Shiro didn’t let him get anything out. “Teenagers have a very skewed perception of affection, so I want to set things straight.” Keith snorted, trying his best to make light of the situation.

“Shiro, you can’t set things straight, I’m gay.” Keith spilled out, words coming off shaky and a tad bit warbled. Shiro cringed slightly at the bad joke and Keith felt like melting into the passenger seat and never coming back up. 

“You know that’s not what I mean. What I mean is that love isn’t only kissing and touching. It’s a deep connection you feel when you’re with someone special. You’re heart skips a bit, you smile just thinking about them, you get shaky when you’re nervous around them, you feel a deep desire to tell them everything and nothing, and you feel empty when they’re not around.” Shiro explained and Keith had a feeling he was describing this from experience. 

“Sometimes, you even lie awake thinking about them.” Shiro muttered, a sigh escaping his lips as he pulled into their parking spot before the apartment. Keith hadn’t realized that they had arrived back and kind of sat, mind numbing from what Shiro was saying. 

“So, Keith. Do you like Lance?” Shiro asked and there was a pause as Keith looked out the windshield, thinking about what he had just said. 

Keith had lost count of the amount of times his heart had skipped a beat just by looking at Lance. When Shiro had taken him into the office he had been smiling just remembering their silly acting up at lunch. Keith hadn’t noticed if he was shaky around Lance, but he wouldn’t be entirely surprised. That might have explained why he felt the deep desire to tell Lance how he felt, but the hesitance he felt in doing so.

“Oh my gosh.” Keith whispered and Shiro grinned from the driver’s seat. “Shiro.” Keith whined, turning toward Shiro, his body beginning to shake uncontrollably. “Shiro, I’ve never felt like this. What-what do I do?” Keith whimpered, fear beginning to take him over as he realized just how much he liked Lance. Liked the way he laughed, the way he winked, the way his body looked in his soccer uniform, the way his eyes looked when he was sad, and the annoying way he got on Keith’s nerves. 

“For now, you don’t have to do anything. Get used to the feeling. Don’t do anything different around Lance, you might scare him.” Shiro advised, opening the car door to step out and head toward the apartment. Keith grabbed his bags and did the same, hustling toward Shiro.

“Scare him?” Keith asked and Shiro chuckled nervously as they began up the stairs. 

“Lance’s anxiety, Keith. He doesn’t believe he deserves to be loved, so you kind of have to take a slow approach anyway.” Shiro explained and Keith nodded, trying to think about how he could approach this. He liked Lance…. The idea and the words kept tugging in the back of his mind and the more he thought about it, the more he enjoyed the feeling of knowing he liked Lance. It was as if a weight had been lifted off of his chest. 

“Now, go do your homework and get some sleep. We’re going up against Galra soon.” Shiro said as he opened the door and let them both into the third floor apartment. Keith grumbled at the reminder that he was going up against his former school.

“You’ll be able to handle it, right?” Shiro asked as they stepped inside and Keith swung the door shut. There was a moment of silence as Keith thought about this. Would he be able to handle going up against former teammates? They weren’t former friends, so it didn’t seem as big of a deal. 

“I’ll try, Shiro.” Keith muttered, looking up at Shiro with what he hoped was confidence in himself. Shiro nodded and smiled.

“Now go get your homework done. Dinner will be ready in a little bit.” Shiro said, slugging him hard in the shoulder as Keith disappeared into his bedroom. His homework didn’t take nearly as long as he thought, though his constant thoughts about Lance were enough to make it go slower. 

Later that night, as he lay in bed, he thought about Lance and how he wanted to approach the whole liking him thing. As his eyes closed and he drifted off he realized he had just met Shiro’s final criteria for being in love. How had this happened?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: Just a little anxiety


	13. One Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance gets a bit anxious the day before the Galra game and Keith has another chance to try comforting him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a little short, but I actually really enjoyed writing this chapter.

“Alright, team! Gather up!” Shiro called to the group of panting, sweating teenage boys in various locations on the field. With heavy breathing they all joined him near the base of the hill that lead to the locker rooms. They had been practicing for a couple of hours and it was about time to head in. But Shiro had some last minute pep talking to give them.

“So tomorrow’s the game against the Galra. We’ve finally made it.” Shiro said and the team looked on solemnly. There was no energy left among any of them to feel up to cheering that statement. Plus, Shiro’s tone wasn’t one that welcomed an enthusiastic cheer. They were all in a gloomy mood. “I think we’re ready.” 

There were shared grins throughout the team as heads turned to glance at buddies with hope shining in their eyes. Older players raised single eyebrows in questioning glances at each other and Shiro waved a hand to silence the murmuring.

“I know, I say that every year. But guys, I haven’t seen a better team since I played for Voltron.” Shiro complimented, a grin splitting his face. This time, older players joined in with the hopefully murmuring of the younger ones. Voltron hadn’t gone to State since Shiro was the striker on the team. He had been the best player the school had seen and his graduation had been devastating for them. 

Getting him back as a coach had been a pretty sweet deal. 

“We’re going to do great tomorrow. Go home and get some rest guys, because tomorrow’s the big day!” Shiro exclaimed and this time the team let out a large cheer of enthusiasm. Everyone split, the freshmen running energetically toward the locker rooms with the older students dropping back to chat and catch their breaths. They understood that resting included not overworking themselves, and that hill was the devil.

Keith dropped into a gentle walk beside Shiro, feeling his nerves bubbling over at the thought of actually playing against the Galra team instead of playing with them. It had been a while since he had even spoken to anyone on the team and he was afraid of what they might say when they saw him.

“Nervous?” Shiro asked, snapping Keith out of his thoughts and back to reality. Keith snapped his head toward Shiro, a look of worry creasing his brow. Slowly he nodded, turning to face the direction they were walking in.

“I don’t know why, Shiro. I’ve always been pretty cool before games.” Keith muttered, knowing completely why he was nervous. Well, mostly. He understood that it was because of the team’s reaction to him leaving, but there were so many other factors, Keith couldn’t figure them all out. 

“Keith, you’re playing people you used to play with. Naturally you’ll feel a little bad trying to beat them.” Shiro suggested and Keith actually scoffed at his comment. Shiro looked at Keith, eyebrows raised in surprise at his response. 

“That is definitely not why I’m nervous. Shiro, I’d be thrilled to beat those guys. It wasn’t like we were close.” Keith explained and Shiro made an ‘o’ with his mouth out of understanding. They were last into the locker room as they talked, Shiro holding the door open for Keith to go in ahead of him. 

“Then maybe it was because of how they reacted when you left?” Shiro asked and Keith nodded, acknowledging how much he knew that was true. He was nervous about what they would say. They had said a few nasty things to him when he had announced that he would be transferring schools, they had to be over it. Part of Keith was still worried, however, that they wouldn’t be over it. That they might say more of those things. 

“Yeah, that’s definitely one reason.” Keith muttered as they reached his locker. Shiro dropped a hand onto Keith’s shoulder and then looked him in the eyes, forcing Keith’s face to look up by doing so. Then Shiro smiled softly.

“It’ll be fine, Keith. You’re not the same person you were then. You won’t lose your head, promise.” Shiro said, voice soft and reassuring. Keith smiled back at him, glad to have someone so caring on his side. Speaking of caring, Lance and Hunk had planned a little homework study session and Keith had been hoping to take part. Spending time with friends would ease his nerves a bit.

“Thanks, Shiro. Hey, I’m going to go find Lance and Hunk.” Keith said, pointing his thumb in the general direction that he knew their lockers were in. Shiro nodded and removed his hand from Keith’s shoulder.

“Don’t take too long. I don’t want the lights to be shut off on you again.” Shiro chuckled and Keith made to punch him in the shoulder, but Shiro was faster and evaded, laughing as he turned toward the office to wait for everyone to finish getting ready.

Keith slid his street clothes back on and dropped his duffle bag onto the benches behind him before turning to find Hunk and Lance, socked feet making no noise against the concrete floors. It was easy to find Hunk, who was stuffing his bag with his things to take him. Lance was normally right beside him, but there was on one there except a few freshmen, who whispered to each other in low voices.

“Hey, Hunk. I was wondering if I could tag along on yours and Lance’s study group thing? I need some distraction and doing my homework alone isn’t going to do any good.” Keith said, leaning against the locker beside Hunk’s as the big guy looked up with a smile.

“Yeah, the more the merrier. I’m sure Lance will be fine with it.” Hunk responded, pushing himself to his feet and picking up his duffle bag. Keith nodded and smiled. 

“Where is Lance?” He asked, simply curious. Lance was always with Hunk in the locker rooms and the showers weren’t running. At least, he hadn’t heard any water the last he had checked. 

“I’m not really sure. He said he was going to get changed and then left. His shoes are still here, too.” Hunk muttered, turning to indicate what he had just said, the flashy shoes sitting on the bench before Lance’s locker. 

“You just let him go?” Keith asked, trying hard to hide the surprise in his voice. Hunk, Lance’s best friend, had let him run off? 

“Yeah? I mean, it’s not like I’m his keeper.” Hunk responded, clearly confused about why Keith was concerned about this. Keith bit his lip and looked behind himself to double check. The showers were definitely not running.

“It’s the day before a big game and Shiro just told everyone we can do it, Hunk. What’s the first thing that might run through Lance’s head?” Keith explained, turning back to Hunk and running his fingers through his hair nervously. Hunk’s brows creased in confusion and then, in one split second of realization, they parted and Hunk made a low, humming sound, mouth forming an ‘o’ as he did so.

“Oh. Oh gosh, okay. So, Lance isn’t here and he’s probably having an anxiety attack. If I was Lance, where would I go?” Hunk muttered, beginning to pace in circles as he thought. Keith sighed, and thought for a bit as well. 

“How about you check the bathroom? I’ll go back outside and see if he’s there.” Keith suggested and Hunk nodded. 

“Yeah, that sounds like a good plan. Great plan. I’ll go that way.” Hunk responded, his voice beginning to ramble a bit as worry poured over his features. Keith was nervous too, he hated when Lance got like this because it scared him. The best solution would be to find him and talk to him, but first they needed to find him. And then they would need to keep a level head. Hunk had dealt with this many times before, but Keith hoped that he would be the one to find Lance just for the sake of getting to talk to him. 

As Hunk split to head toward the bathroom, Keith walked quickly toward the doors leading back out to the field. His worry was evident in his pace, but his level expression didn’t give anything away as he pushed through the doors and under the stairs that lead to the upper level of the school. 

It was raining.

Keith cursed himself for waiting until the last minute to put his shoes on, but simply jumped out into the rain, not caring about getting his feet wet. If Lance was out here, he was getting his feet wet too. Keith knew he would be able to survive if Lance could. 

As he came around the corner to the overlook above the field, Keith thought about the conversation he and Shiro had had several days ago. After realizing he liked Lance, Keith had managed to keep his cool around the taller teen, but every once in a while he would find himself staring and get all flustered when someone noticed. 

Just the thought that he liked Lance was enough to scare him. Not only had he never had a crush on someone before, but Lance? Sure, his annoying attitude had become somewhat endearing, but his anxiety scared Keith. They hadn’t known each other for very long and already Keith was trying to deal with Lance’s anxiety, but it never seemed to work. In fact, Keith was pretty sure he made it worse every time the subject came up.

Jumping onto the bench at the edge of the overlook, Keith stared down through the rain onto the field where he saw a single person standing, not moving, in the middle of the field. Keith sighed, hoping desperately that it wasn’t Lance. Something in his gut told him, as he jogged down the hill, that it was Lance standing there.

As he reached the bottom of the hill, feet now aching and cold, he recognized the blue sweatshirt and the long, thin legs. Approaching Lance at a jog, his worry became deeper when he realized Lance was shivering and the normally bright color of his sweatshirt was a darker color. His face was turned toward the sky and dripping with water, his dark brown hair sticking across his features as it, too, dripped water.

“Lance, what are you doing out here? Hunk and I were worried.” Keith said, feeling the water finally reaching through his own sweatshirt and to his t-shirt beneath. His feet were soaked through long ago, but walking along the field they had stepped into shallow puddles the rain had created rapidly. 

“Why?” Lance muttered and Keith realized that it wasn’t just rain streaming down his face. The tears followed a clear path, occasionally joined by the rain and then dropped off his chin. Keith sighed, taking another step forward until he was almost brushing up against Lance’s side.

“Because Hunk and I care about you. If the rest of the team had known you’d just up and left, they would have been worried too. Trust me, we all care about you. Now let’s go inside.” Keith responded, turning so he was facing the same direction Lance was. Instead of staring up toward the sky, however, he just looked at the side of Lance’s face and traced the sharp outline of his jaw.

“Why? I’m not worth anything to the team. Why would they care about me?” Lance muttered, his voice clearly choking as he attempted to keep his crying from affecting his voice. Keith felt his heart break at the sound of Lance’s voice and his words. How did Hunk do this so often?

“You’re worth so much to the team, Lance. You’re quick, you’re smart, you’re always open, and you have so much more energy than the rest of us.” Keith said, hoping he was coming off as caring. Were his reasons good enough? Keith wasn’t sure if what he said was worth it, Lance could always just brush him off like he had done before. Maybe, just maybe, their growing friendship would be enough for Lance to trust him.

“But you’re faster than me, and much smarter. You make the most goals. I’m nowhere near as good as you, so why?” Lance muttered, choking at the end of his sentence and cutting it short to keep from audibly breaking into sobs.

“Because, Lance, you can get the ball into the goal quicker and much more accurately than I can.” Keith responded, remembering many times during practice and in some games where Lance would shoot right passed the goalie, into a tight spot, and make it. It was like a sewer threading a needle with a small hole. It was awe inspiring.

“I don’t think I can play the Galra, Keith. They’re so much better than us. My only motivation playing them was taking you down, but you’re here now. I can’t do it.” Lance muttered, his voice shaking and body following closely behind, now not only shivering out of cold but also due to nerves. Keith turned abruptly and grabbed his arms, turning Lance to face him. Lance’s eyes snapped open and he looked down at Keith.

“Lance, we’re all behind you! The whole team can do this. You heard Shiro, we’re the best he’s seen since he was on the team! If it helps any, their new striker is quite the jerk.” Keith said, looking right into the surprised expression on Lance’s face, the red in his eyes indicating how long he had been crying.

“Wait, you know their new striker?” Lance asked, face morphing into confusion. Keith sighed just recalling the conceited, self-centered, pompous dick that was the Galra striker. 

“Lance, I was on the team before. The only reason he wasn’t striker was because I was better than him.” Keith muttered, trying not to recall the stupid look on the guys face every time he did something better than Keith. Which was actually closer to home than Keith had been comfortable with. 

“So, he’s not actually that good?” Lance asked, eyes lighting up a bit as Keith rolled his eyes and let out a groan, letting go of Lance’s arms to cross his own defensively.

“No, he just loved thinking he was. I’m sure he’s even more of a prick now than when I was on the team, since he’s got the top title.” Keith grumbled, clearly recalling memories of this striker that Lance couldn’t see. There came a small sound from before Keith and he turned his attention back to Lance to find him laughing. 

“You know what, your anger is kind of comforting, Keith.” Lance laughed and Keith felt his face heat up, the blush blending in behind the red from the cold biting his cheeks. Shrugging it off he looked away.

“Whatever. Let’s go inside. It’s getting really cold and neither of us will be any good with a cold.” Keith muttered, turning away from Lance to hide the smile that was cracking his face. He had made Lance smile! There was more laughter from behind as Lance followed him up the hill and back into the locker room, their wet feet making funny sounds against the concrete.

“There you two are! Geez, you’re all wet.” Shiro exclaimed as they entered, his worried expression turning to one of slight disgust as he looked them both over.

“Yeah, it’s kind of raining outside.” Keith muttered, ready to give Shiro some attitude. Now that he was really thinking about it, the sound of the rain pattering against the roof was actually pretty obvious. 

“Okay, well, you two need to get dry and warm as soon as possible if you don’t want to catch a cold.” Shiro explained, worrying like a mother hen as Hunk came around the corner.

“Shiro I couldn’t find-“ He stopped abruptly when he saw both Lance and Keith before Shiro, soaked to the bone and shivering. “What the heck is wrong with you two? We’re going to have to cancel that homework study date. You two need to get warm and fast. Let’s go to my house! I can make some soup.” Hunk exclaimed, giddy that he had the opportunity to make something for them.

“I need dry clothes, Hunk.” Keith pointed out, knowing that Lance lived next door the darker skinned teen’s excuse for dry clothes.

“You can have some of mine. We’re really close in size.” Lance offered and Keith felt himself heat up again as a brighter red blush crossed his cheeks.

“That sounds like a great idea! I’ll take your duffle home, Keith. Just text me when you’re ready to come home.” Shiro said and Keith felt himself spluttering at his brother, watching him disappear into the lockers before coming back out, Keith’s back pack in one hand and his duffle in the other.

“Great! I asked my mom to come pick me up when I realized it was raining, so we won’t be walking.” Hunk grinned and, before Keith had even the slightest opportunity to protest, they were in Hunk’s mom’s car, driving to the Garett household. 

Lance stopped by his house quickly to grab clothes before joining Keith and Hunk back at Hunk’s house. Hunk did as he said he would and made them soup and grabbed them blankets and Lance gave Keith clothes and they spent the afternoon doing their homework beside a space heater and with warm bowls of soup. 

Keith fell asleep in the middle of Lance and Hunk debating whether the soup needed more spices or vegetables. When they both realized he was out, they texted Shiro for him and changed the debate to who was going to wake him. 

Before he knew it, he was being gently shaken by Lance, who had lost a coin toss. Shiro drove him back to the apartment and Keith fell asleep in his bed, still wearing the sweater and pair of sweats Lance had given him. 

He drifted off to the familiar scent of Lance, a smile on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: Part one of the Galra game! With a special guest star!


	14. Striker: Lotor!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The game against the Galra team begins! It's just as bad as Keith expected it to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was looking forward to this part, and here we are!

It was finally game day. Keith wasn’t sure what he was feeling as they rode the bus to the Galra Academy stadium. The team was buzzing with positive, nervous energy as they chatted about their day and about how they thought the game would go. The entire team was busy talking and laughing, redirecting any nervous attention to something silly. The entire team except Lance and Keith. 

When they had boarded the bus to head toward the Galra stadium, Keith had made sure to sit next to Lance with Hunk behind them, just in case. Keith wanted to help Lance in any way he could, but the taller teen hadn’t said anything since the team had gathered in front of the bus. Not even when the freshmen shouted about beating the Galra without hesitation. The Cuban teen remained still and voiceless, staring absently at the back of the seat before him. 

For the entire ride, Keith watched his expression, stealing glances toward Lance every once in a while. He wanted to say something, wanted to help so badly, but he couldn’t think of what to say. This was one of Lance’s biggest anxieties. Playing the Galra had always been a time for him to kick up his game, playing against Keith had given him motivation to do his best. Yet, here he was, headed toward the one game that normally gave him the least anxiety, and his competition was sitting right next to him.

What Keith had said the previous day was all he could think of to say, but it didn’t visibly look like it was working. Did motivational speeches only last a certain amount of time on people with anxiety? Keith had no idea how to tell and wasn’t sure how to ask Hunk. 

“Keith, I’m fine.” Lance’s voice took Keith by surprise about the ten millionth time he glanced in his direction. His mouth fluttered open and closed as he attempted to come up with words to say as Lance looked up at him, a smirk on his face. “You’re not very subtle.” Lance muttered, amusement obvious in his voice. Keith felt heat rise to his face and looked away.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Keith huffed, crossing his arms over his chest as Lance chuckled softly about his antics. Keith felt himself turning red, despite the dropping of the conversation. Lance turned his head back toward the seat in front of him and Keith snuck a small glance at his face.

His dark skin was shadowed slightly by the light coming in through the window on his other side, his jaw line emphasized by the shadows beneath it. Keith’s eyes traced along his jaw and over his lips, Lance’s amused smile making Keith smile. Resting his gaze on Lance’s eyes for a moment, Keith took in their blue beauty and sighed almost audibly. Realizing his glances had turned into a full on stare, Keith turned away and stared at the seat before him as the bus pulled into the Galra bus loop.

The school was just as intimidating as Keith remembered it. 

Stepping off the bus, he listened to the freshmen ‘ooh’ and ‘ah’ at the intimidating grace that was the Galra Academy building. 

Standing three stories tall, it was unnecessarily high for a high school. With the amount of stories it possessed, the school wasn’t nearly as long as Voltron was, compacting itself into a smaller space to provide for fantastic sports fields and a large student parking lot. 

Galra Academy only accepted students who showed true promise, and making it in had been a struggle. Despite his mediocre grades, Keith had managed to make it in when a Galra Academy recruiter saw him play soccer. The man had said Keith’s grades could be improved, but that his skills in soccer were just what the team needed. 

It hadn’t mattered to Keith where he went to school, just as long as he played soccer after aging out of the club.

“Feel weird pulling up in a bus?” Shiro’s voice came from Keith’s right and he realized he had frozen where he was on the sidewalk before the front entrance. The rest of the team was several feet ahead of him already and hadn’t even realized he had dropped back. 

“Yeah.” Keith muttered and Shiro patted him on the back, pushing him forward as he did so. This push was all Keith needed to get his legs moving toward the stadium around the back of the school. Keith was curious why they hadn’t pulled up to the stadium parking lot, but didn’t bother asking. 

“It’ll be fine, Keith. You’re a great player and the team really loves you. There’s nothing to worry about.” Shiro reassured him as they caught up to the team, crossing the large parking lot toward the stadium. The stadium was almost more intimidating than the school because of its design. The school was a large block, but the stadium reminded Keith of the gladiator stadiums from ancient Greece he saw in pictures in history class.

“Thanks, Shiro.” Keith muttered, watching as the freshmen sprinted toward the entrance of the stadium, their energy making them do stupid things. They walked the rest of the parking lot in silence, the sounds of a large crowd growing louder as they approached the stadium entrance. 

The place was massive, built in imitation of the classic Olympic stadiums, including the indoor hallway surrounding the entire stadium. There were lockers on either side of the stadium for the teams that would play in whatever sport was being held. The Voltron players were already suited up, but there was a gathering of players near the door where the freshmen held them up.

“C’mon, guys, keep moving.” Shiro called, nudging the older players to show the way to the field. It was a large place, someone could easily get lost. Keith had always thought that it was silly for something like this to belong to a single school, but the Altea City School District had decided that it was useful for large school events or even city wide events, when necessary. 

The group headed toward the doors that lead to the large track and field beyond where they were met with the noisy crowd that had already gathered.

It was packed.

Nerves wracked Keith’s body as he spotted the familiar purple uniform of the Galra Academy team. They were running drills on one end of the field, the schools cheerleading team giving them some motivation. 

“Why don’t we have cheerleaders?” One of the freshmen asked as the team headed toward the benches where there was already a water cooler set up. Keith dropped his duffle onto the ground beneath one of the benches. Why did it have to be like this? Why couldn’t he have just gone to Voltron in the first place? A lot of this could have been avoided if he had just gone to Voltron. Younger Keith didn’t care what school he attended, though, and now he was stuck in this mess.

“Because our cheerleaders have other things to do.” Someone responded as Keith took a seat on the bench and began changing his shoes. He rarely wore his cleats while on the bus. Normally, though, the Galra team didn’t go to away games because they had the best field. It was entirely turf, brand new as if the field hadn’t been put in decades earlier. The whole place felt brand new, despite how long ago it had been built.

People in the stands chatted and buzzed as the teams prepared to start the game, the Galra team continuing their drills as the Voltron team strapped on their shoes. Shiro talked to them as they did so, reminding them what drills they were to run and that this game was going to be easy. Keith felt his nerves continuing to jump as he jogged out onto the field behind the captain, not even noticing when the captain stopped moving. Keith grunted as he ran right into his back, nearly knocking him off his feet.

“Watch where you’re going, Keith.” The senior was shorter than Keith by several inches, but was clearly built for the sport. He turned, concern obvious in his eyes on top of the slight annoyance.

“Sorry.” Keith muttered, backing up a bit as the captain prepared to instruct them on the drills. As he backed into the group that had gathered behind him, he felt hyperaware of the people behind him, making sure to stop before he ran into them. 

As the captain gave drill instructions, Keith felt his mind go entirely blank. The team across the field from him had been his a year ago. He was about to play them. There were a billion things that could go wrong.

“Keith. Hey, you okay?” Keith felt the weight of a hand on his shoulder and glanced toward the sound of the voice. Lance stood beside him, close enough his warmth could be felt against Keith’s neck. Keith looked away and toward their side of the field, avoiding looking near the Galra players.

“Not really. I’m really nervous. I never get nervous.” Keith responded, sighing tiredly as he did so. Was he ready for this? Was Lance ready for this? Was the team ready for this? Galra was the best school in the state and one of the best in the nation. It would be hard to surpass them. 

“Hey, buddy, we all get nervous. You just haven’t found a reason to be.” Lance reassured him, patting his shoulder firmly as he said this. “Nerves is mostly what fuels me, so I’m sure you’ll be fine.” Lance commented, jogging forward as the ball reached him and he began the drill, leaving Keith to watch him go.

Why was he so calm? Lance’s anxiety seemed to have melted off since the previous day. Keith watched the taller player run the drill before the ball was kicked to him. Putting on a determined face, he decided that this wasn’t going to bug him. If Lance could put on a good face, Keith knew he could. Nerves could be his fuel too. 

Then Keith broke into playing mode.

Drills were over before they really began and, as the team jogged toward Shiro to get a pep talk, Keith felt infinitely better about the game. As long as he wasn’t faced with one of the players long enough to get words in, he would be fine. 

A shout came from somewhere behind Keith.

Turning swiftly he saw the captain, sprawled out across the turf, pushing himself into a seated position, twisting himself around so his legs were before him. Jogging toward him, Keith joined a couple of the other players in helping him out. 

“I don’t know what I tripped on. I just tripped on something.” As he said this he grabbed his left ankle and flinched. The bright eyed, bushy haired ginger of a freshman reached forward hesitantly and helped the captain pull his shoe off. As the older student rolled down his sock he cringed. There was nothing visible on his ankle, but every time the freshmen gently prodded it he would flinch and hiss.

“It might be sprained.” The freshman offered, standing straight and offering a hand out to the varsity team’s captain. The older student took the offered hand and slung his arm around the younger student’s shoulders. Several other students helped by standing on his other side or grabbing his shoe.

“How do you know?” Keith asked, skeptical that this freshman knew that it might be sprained before anyone else had looked at it. Keith had had his fair share of sprained ankles, but never had he been able to tell it was sprained before a professional looked at it.

“My mom’s a nurse. She’s taught me a few things.” The kid responded, sticking his nose in the air as they assisted the captain off the field. His tone wasn’t matter-of-fact, just proud that he had some skills Keith had never realized. Keith hummed as he acknowledged the kid’s response, actually kind of impressed that his mom had taught him something like that and he had remembered it. Probably got a lot of sprains in his lifetime.

“What’s wrong? You alright?” Shiro pushed through the group surrounding the captain as they reached the sidelines, helping the captain sit on the bench before looking him over. Carefully, the captain rested his leg before himself, not resting on it too much.

“I tripped on something. We think it might be sprained.” He told Shiro, who bit his lip with a concerned look on his face. This wasn’t good. They needed their captain for the game. He was one of the few seniors on the team and definitely the smartest of the gang. The others weren’t often starters, either. Shiro stood straight and rubbed his chin.

“You’ll just have to sit out until it starts looking better.” Shiro muttered, looking around at the team around him. They all stared on, watching the captain or Shiro or chatting nervously about something. 

“If it starts looking better.” The flame haired freshman commented, looking up at Shiro with a look that said he knew something. Keith already knew what the kid thought he knew, but Shiro looked concerned nodding in understanding to what the kid said. If it was sprained, he wasn’t going to be able to play the game. 

“Alright, Keith. You’ll start for us. Remember, Voltron always starts the first half.” Shiro said, pointing to Keith as he said this. The entire team mumbled and buzzed about this new development and Keith began to feel his nerves rise again.

“Uh, Shiro. What are you doing? Why don’t you choose one of the other seniors? They’re probably better suited for this job.” Keith protested, following Shiro as he moved away from the group of soccer players gathered around the captain. Lance and Hunk seemed to drop back to listen to the conversation as Keith protested his being interim captain.

“Because you’re smart, you’re fast, and you’d be starting us anyway. Use Lance as your kick off forward. He’s the best bet.” Shiro explained, dropping into a seated position as the whistle blew to start the game. Usually the JV team started games, but this time around the Galra had decided to start with their varsity team. 

It was a bit unusual, but it wasn’t a bad thing. The idea was just to get the good game out of the way first. Of course, their JV team had no chance of winning against the Galra’s.

“Shiro, c’mon! There has to be someone better for this.” Keith protested, the rest of the starts on the varsity team approaching the field as he spoke. Shiro rolled his eyes at Keith and nudged him toward the field with his foot.

“Nope! Now get out there!” Shiro exclaimed, nudging a bit harder. Keith stumbled out to the field and found himself headed toward the familiar purple uniforms of the Galra Academy team. He hadn’t been in the coin flip circle since his last game with the Galra. He had been the first ever sophomore captain and had lead them to many victories. And then he had left. 

“If it isn’t the king.” 

He had left for more reason than moving in with Shiro.

“Keith, you look like you’re doing well. I mean, for the fallen king of a great empire.” The voice was grating and dripping with pure sarcasm. Keith’s worried expression turned into one of pure hatred, burning with the passion to hit someone. Particularly the tall, thin teenager in the circle with him.

“Lotor, you haven’t changed.” Keith growled, crossing his arms over his chest as he looked the taller boy up and down. He really hadn’t changed. His dripping with sarcasm attitude, his thin limbs, his long white hair, those narrow eyes. Everything about the Galra forward was the same. Only now he was standing in the center circle with Keith. 

“Of course I haven’t. If I had, I wouldn’t be captain.” Lotor slurred, swinging his weight from one leg to the other in an impatient, sassy sort of manner. He was teasing, Keith knew. Long ago, when the two had first met, Lotor had been what Keith had called a ‘fast ball’. In all honesty, Lance was never his first crush. At the time, Lotor had been friendly and fun to be around. He had also been Keith’s first kiss. That had been when Keith had realized he was gay. As freshmen, they had been attached at the hip. 

As sophomores, they had been toxic.

“They made you captain? They must be really stupid.” Keith growled, trying very hard to forget everything he and Lotor had ever been through. Sure, he missed the days when they would hang out and have fun, but after the kiss, nothing had been the same. Lotor had become cocky, even boastful, and hadn’t given Keith a second glance since. 

“Well, if Voltron made you captain, then they must be truly insane.” Lotor hissed back, eyes narrowed, grin maniacal. They had remained on the same team, but Lotor had forever determined to better Keith as the team’s youngest striker. He almost had, but Keith had always remained on step ahead.

“I’m just standing in. Our captain sprained his ankle.” Keith shot back, glad he was able to say this. If he really had been captain, he wasn’t sure Lotor would have survived that shot at Voltron. With this explanation, Lotor glanced toward the Voltron bench where the captain sat and clicked his tongue, turning back to Keith.

“Well, that’s too bad. At least we get to face off again.” Lotor grinned, clearly pleased with something about their situation. The look on his face was making Keith’s blood boil. If he didn’t shut up, Keith was sure he would get himself into more trouble than he was already. Just standing in front of Lotor was enough trouble. 

“Hey, Keith! You got this!” A familiar voice snapped him from the angry conversation he had been having with Lotor. Turning his head abruptly, he spotted Lance giving him two thumbs up and a goofy grin. Keith smiled fondly at this expression and mimicked the thumbs up before turning back to Lotor, who’s expression had turned sinister.

“Who’s the hottie? He your striker?” Lotor asked as the referee finally started heading toward center circle, coin in hand, ready to start the game. It was as if he was taking ages to get there, as Keith’s blood began to boil once more. 

“No, Lance is just a forward. I’m the striker.” Keith hissed, ready to punch Lotor in the face for talking about Lance with that tone of voice. It sounded hungry and made Keith’s hair stand on end. He sounded like an animal on the prowl, and Keith just wanted him to shut up. 

“Oh, of course. Forgot, you’re the striker wherever you go.” Lotor mused, grin turning up at the corners. Right as Keith was about to hit him the ref showed up, a big grin on his face.

“Alright, boys, you ready?” He asked and Keith had to force himself to look away from Lotor and nod. This was going to be one long game. 

Lotor called heads and, when the coin landed on tails, clicked his tongue angrily before turning back to his team. Keith looked over to Lance, who grinned and nodded, showing Keith he was ready. The bright, cheerful face of Lance was enough to take Keith’s mind off of Lotor and the fact that he was playing the Galra team. 

Then the game began.

Unlike most games, this one really took Keith’s breath. He was busy running back and forth, up and down the field, making sure the Galra didn’t get the ball, making sure Voltron stayed with it. Without their captain, he was working plays, checking his teammates, and making sure everything was running smoothly.

Which it wasn’t.

The game was pure chaos. Sure, Voltron managed to trap the ball and keep it out of the Galra’s hands for a lot of the first half, but there was no real control, just desperate grabbing of the ball when they could.

Then the Galra scored a goal.

It wasn’t even five minutes into the first half and they were already one point ahead. Voltron gathered for a little collective discussion before the second kick off. 

“Hey, Keith, got any secrets?” Lance asked as they broke out to get into their positions.

“Um, well, not really.” He responded, realizing that the team was working completely differently than when he had been the striker. It had been so long since he had played with them, they had learned new tricks and were so far ahead of Voltron, Keith wasn’t entirely sure what to do.

“Well, thanks for the help.” Lance muttered, attempting to mask the disappointment in his voice. Keith mentally kicked himself for being stupid. Lance was probably hyper on edge. This game was a big deal to more than just them. They needed to think of how to play against the Galra’s weaknesses.

First, they needed to think of the Galra’s weaknesses.

The kick off went smoothly and Lance got the ball, racing it to the other end of the field as quickly as he could manage. Keith was right behind him as he ran, several of the other players on their team close behind. As the fastest two, Keith and Lance reached the other end of the field before them.

“Ooh, Lance, you’re faster than I anticipated.” Lotor cooed, rushing right up to Lance to block his pass to Keith. Lance backed away, surprised by the sudden intrusion. Great, Lotor was blocking Lance. Keith growled, moving into a spot where Lance could pass to him and avoid Lotor all together.

“You and I are very similar, Lance. Attractive, fast, better at soccer than we’re given credit for.” Lotor said, looking Lance right in the eye as Keith tried to maneuver around them to take the ball before someone else got it. 

Right as Lotor slipped his foot in and passed the ball to another team member before racing off down the field all while blowing Lance a kiss. Keith growled as he sprinted after Lotor, not even noticing the bright red blush on Lance’s face morph into something more of a confused expression. 

That was when the Galra team made their second goal.

“Keith, what’s up with that Lotor guy? Did he really just try flirting with me?” Lance asked when the team gathered again for another kick off. Keith growled and rolled his eyes, angry that the tone of Lance’s voice wasn’t one of disgust. Why wouldn’t he be disgusted? Lotor was a creep who was just flirting with Lance to get the ball. 

“Lotor’s a creep, Lance. Just ignore him.” Keith growled, angry that he was feeling more than just mad that Lotor was using dirty tricks. He was using them against Lance! Lotor had to know. Somehow, Lotor knew that Keith liked Lance. He had to be using that against the Voltron striker to weaken him. 

“Uh, okay.” Lance muttered, watching as Keith jogged off to make the next kick off. The game continued in a similar fashion, only the longer Lotor tried, the less Lance seemed flattered. 

“Lance, you would be so much better on our team.” Lotor cooed near the end of the first half. Lance, who had the ball, rolled his eyes and cleanly passed it to Keith, who raced it to the other end of the field. However, Lotor wasn’t hot on Keith’s trail. 

“Dude, I’m fine on my team. Now back off.” Lance grunted, pushing passed Lotor to join his team on the Galra end of the field. The more Lotor flirted, the less Lance cared. However, Keith started caring more and more until the whistle blew for the end of the first half and the team’s were splitting to their separate sides of the field.

“What is your problem?” Keith growled, confronting Lotor as the opposing team’s striker headed to cool off. Lotor simply smirked and rolled his eyes.

“I don’t have a problem, Keith. You seem to have one, though.” Lotor crowed, lifting a single eyebrow as he said this.

In a single rush, Keith recalled why he hated Lotor so much. Why the stupid guy made his blood boil. 

“Lotor, back off. Lance clearly doesn’t care for your flirting. He knows it’s just a dirty trick to distract him.” Keith growled, recalling the last team practice before they had split for the rest of the year. Lotor’s velvety voice dripping with words against Keith, as if Keith wasn’t right there. 

“A dirty trick? I suppose you wouldn’t know attraction if it was staring you right in the face.” Lotor mused, pouting his lower lip in the same manner he had not even a year ago. Keith staring him in the face, accusing him like he had back then. In almost mirror image to the memory, Keith growled. 

“I know more about attraction than you do.” Keith wanted to punch him in the face, the way his blood boiled he knew he was getting there. Lotor scoffed, then began to laugh, wiping his eyes as if there were tears from his laughter.

“Please, Keith. You didn’t know you were gay when you met me. You couldn’t possibly have learned what love was in the time since then.” Lotor chuckled, throwing his head back slightly as Keith felt his fists clench. Then Lotor broke Keith. “Plus, it’s not like you like Lance, or anything. You don’t deserve such a wonderful soul.” 

Again, Keith punched him.

As if in mirror image to that day only months ago, Keith’s knuckled landed right in the soft spot on Lotor’s cheek. He felt like everything was moving in slow motion as Lotor’s cheek squished into a funny shape and his head began to turn away from the punch. As Keith’s fist pushed into Lotor’s face the taller teen’s expression warped, his eyes filled with shock like they had been back then.

Again, it felt awesome.

Keith grinned as the slow motion trip ended and Lotor stumbled toward the ground, attempting to catch his balance but only managing to land on one knee, hand cupped over his face. He spat onto the turf, gasping for breath as if the punch had taken a lot out of him. He looked up at Keith, the same shock expression on his face as Keith grinned down at him. 

Again, Keith was in trouble.

There was chaos as the ref raced onto the field and several players from either team joined him, the coaches standing and shouting words Keith didn’t register. That was what was different. At the time, it had been just Keith and Lotor, the team sitting in various locations on the field around them, Coach Zarkon yelling at Keith, telling him his spot was guaranteed on the team for his junior year. 

Keith hadn’t cared then, Shiro was adopting him and he was going to go to Voltron. If he could live without Lotor, then that was great. But now he was without Lotor and still, here he was, punching the lights out of him as if it was only yesterday he had been on the Galra team.

It wasn’t until Lance grabbed him by the shoulders, turned him around, and began asking him things Keith wasn’t hearing that he realized he was in bigger trouble now then he was then.


	15. Striker: Lance!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Keith gets kicked out of the game, he asks Lance to take over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading through the whole fic, I absolutely loved writing this one!

Keith finally began registering sound when Lance brought him to the Voltron bench and he was standing face to face with his angry older brother and coach. He smiled sheepishly at Shiro but was only met with an even angrier look.

“Keith, what was that?” Shiro asked, expression hardening as he threw out a hand to indicate the direction of Lotor and the rest of the Galra team, the ref out by the other striker to help him and make sure he was alright. Keith flinched as this hand was thrown out and Shiro’s expression softened just a bit.

“He was being a jerk, Shiro. Telling me I…I….” Keith explained, voice disappearing as he realized what Lotor had said had not only been false, but that it had been related directly to the dark skinned, Cuban teen standing directly to his right, listening to this entire conversation. Nervously, Keith looked down and side glanced at Lance, who was looking right at him, waiting for an answer in much the same manner Shiro was.

“Telling you what, Keith? What was so bad that you had to punch him again?” Shiro demanded. The end of his question caught Lance’s attention and the taller teen snapped his head in Shiro’s direction.

“Again?” He asked, incredulous at the idea that Keith had already punched him. Neither Shiro nor Keith acknowledged his question and continued the conversation as if he hadn’t said anything. The rest of the team was gathering near the far end of the bench, watching them argue but not visibly listening in.

“He told me I wouldn’t know attraction if it was staring me right in the face.” Keith mumbled, looking away from Shiro’s disappointed expression as he said it. He was very aware of the fact that Lance snorted at this, but he didn’t want to think about it. Why was Lance even still there? Didn’t he know when to back off? 

“Keith, buddy, you wouldn’t know attraction if it was kissing you on the lips.” Lance snickered, making Keith flinch and look further down at his feet, his face turning red. He was tempted to snap at Lance ‘neither would you!’ but refrained from it in case Lance would understand what he was getting at by saying that. 

“Lance, go sit with the rest of the team.” Shiro commanded, voice soft enough to not come off as angry. Keith had always admired Shiro’s ability to control his tone. It was something that must have come from his dad, because Keith couldn’t find an ounce of self control in his entire body. It must have been hidden somewhere, because there had to be some. 

Lance huffed, but did as he was instructed and joined the rest of the team at the other end of the bench. With this Shiro turned back to Keith. 

“And you felt it was necessary to punch him because of it?” Shiro asked and Keith shrugged, pouting his lower lip and looking away from Shiro.

“He was flirting with Lance.” Keith muttered, trying to keep his voice low so the eavesdroppers from their team wouldn’t hear him say this. Instead of keeping his level expression, Shiro’s eyebrows rose and his mouth cracked into a slight smile. A small laugh escaped his lips and Keith’s face snapped back to looking directly at Shiro.

“You punched him because you were jealous?” Shiro asked, tone incredulous, expression amused. Keith felt himself overcome with confusion at Shiro’s response. Why did he think it was funny? Wait, jealous?

“I wasn’t jealous.” Keith protested and Shiro dropped a hand onto his younger brother’s shoulder, another laugh escaping his lips.

“Keith, he was flirting with the guy you like. You punched him because he accused you of not knowing what love is. It was definitely jealousy.” Shiro pointed out. Keith felt his face turn red and was glad it was already kind of red from the argument with Lotor. Was he really jealous? He didn’t think he was, but what Shiro said made sense. 

“Anyway. After that stupid move, you’re out of the game. Sit on the bench.” Shiro’s amused expression turned back to a solemn one as he gestured toward the bench. Keith glanced between the bench and Shiro, expression shocked, ready to protest. Shiro stopped him before he could say anything. “Keith, you punched their striker. You’re out of the game. Now sit down.” Shiro commanded before nudging Keith gently on the shoulder. 

As Keith did so, Shiro joined the rest of the team near the end of the bench to tell them what was going to happen. Keith rested his chin on his hand, pouting toward the other end of the field where the Galra team was reassembling themselves as well.

“Alright, Lance, you’re new interim captain. Cody, you’re playing. Let’s get out there and beat ‘em!” Shiro exclaimed, enthusiasm overtaking the team, who returned it with shouts of agreement. The only person who didn’t cheer was Lance, who followed Shiro to the end of the bench where he sat to watch.

“Shiro, I can’t be interim captain! What about Keith! There has to be a way to convince the ref he can still play! I can’t be the one to think up the plays! I can’t do that kind of thinking on my feet!” Lance protested, following Shiro, eyes big, expression clearly afraid. Keith turned his gaze from the Galra end of the field to where Lance stood before Shiro, who had taken a seat. 

“Lance, you’ll do fine. I’ve seen the way you think and work in practice, you’re just as great at this as Keith is.” Shiro explained, waving a hand at Lance as he said it. Lance began to wring his hands together and shake his head adamantly. Keith recognized signs of his anxiety without ever having seen them. Did Shiro know them?

“Shiro, this is crazy! There’s no way I’m good enough to take this on!” Lance protested, clearly ready to break down at any second. Keith felt himself prepare, as if ready to jump in and protect Lance if he needed it. Shiro looked up at Lance and gave him a soft smile.

“Of course you can do it. Everyone’s thrilled it’s you, Lance. You’ll do great. Now go on, I’m sure they’ll start the game up soon.” Shiro said, his voice soft but sure. Keith watched the nerves make themselves known on Lance’s face as he turned away from Shiro. His jittery footsteps walked toward the field, hesitation clear in every step. He didn’t believe Shiro.

“Wait, Lance.” Keith called, getting off the bench and grabbing Lance by the arm to turn him around. Lance faced Keith, tears bubbling at the corners of his eyes and across the bottom lid. Red rimmed the whites of his eyes and he was clearly biting his lip to hold back the tears, which were going to come anyway.

“Keith, tell Shiro I can’t do this! Tell him to choose someone else! The other seniors can’t be so bad to put me in as the next choice! There has to be some kind of mist-“ But Lance was cut off when Keith grabbed the back of his head and pulled him in for a kiss. 

It was wet, the tears from Lance’s eyes spilling over from lack of control. Keith moved his body closer to Lance’s pushing himself deeper into the other forward. The warmth coming off of Lance felt great, the jittery nerves being suppressed by the violent pushing Keith was doing. Lance eventually reached his hands up to the back of Keith’s head, fingers twisting into the black locks at the base of his neck. 

It felt so good.

Keith pulled away after what felt like ages and looked Lance in the eyes. Ignoring the completely surprised expression on his face, the screaming from his team and the audience, and the tears still streaming down Lance’s face, Keith spoke to him.

“Now go out there and destroy them.” He commanded before turning Lance around and kicking him in the lower back gently, to give him a shove. With a huff he turned and sat back down on the bench, face turning red as he realized what he had just done. The ref blew the whistle for everyone to gather on the field and the whole team hustled out toward the field to get started. 

“Keith? Hey, you okay?” Keith suddenly realized someone was saying his name and turned his head toward Shiro, who looked both amused and concerned. How it was Shiro managed multiple expressions, Keith would never know. 

“Did I just do what I think I did?” Keith asked, voice low out of shock, eyes wide. Shiro’s concern left his expression entirely and he cracked a huge grin.

“You just kissed him in front of a huge crowd.” Shiro confirmed Keith’s worst fear right then and there and, as the game started back up, Keith dropped his face into his hands and groaned loudly. His face was wet, as if he had been crying, and he realized he had picked up Lance’s tears. 

“You know what, though?” Shiro continued, actually ignoring the game for a moment to try and look Keith in the eyes. This was difficult, since Keith didn’t look up. “He kissed you back.” There was a bit of hesitance in his voice, as if Shiro found it gross that he had to point this out, but he successfully got Keith’s attention by doing so. 

“He did.” Keith said, lifting his face from his hands to look out toward the field where Lance was taking the ball from one of the Galra players and sprinting it toward the other end of the field before shooting it into the goal. 

That was how the game went for the rest of the second half. Lance worked the team through several rather complex looking plays that allowed them to not only match the Galra’s score, but surpass it while preventing them from making any more goals.

Lance scored almost every single one of them. 

Keith watched in awe as this happened, Lance’s abilities seemingly amplified by something as he played, making Lotor work for the game. Shiro was on his feet yelling and screaming with the rest of the JV players and benched varsity players. The Voltron audience members screamed and yelled as well and Keith was pretty sure he heard Pidge somewhere in there.

However, Keith never stood up. All he did was sit there and stare as Lance made hand signals, calls, and passes that scored goals or prevented them. It was almost as if an entirely different person had stepped onto that field after Keith kissed him. It was amazing. 

When the game finally ended it was three to seven, six of the goals having been made by Lance. Several people dropped over the sides of the fences holding back audience members as the Voltron players rushed into a big group huddle, yelling and screaming at each other. Lance was right in the middle of it all being jostled and jumbled and pushed and pulled as everyone screamed in his ear. 

Keith couldn’t get anywhere near him. 

“Keith! That hit was amazing!” Keith turned to find Pidge right next to him, their expression burning with enthusiasm and fire. He had never seen them so overjoyed over a sports event but was pleased that they were.

“Haha, yeah, that….” Keith’s voice was drowned out by the crowd as he looked down at the ground, unsure if he was pleased that Pidge was still pumped about his punching Lotor. Right as Pidge was about to say something else someone came up behind Keith and wrapped their arms around him.

“Keith, you did great at motivating Lance.” It was Matt he heard over his shoulder and Keith felt his face burn as he realized his friends would be mentioning this for years to come. It sure would be memorable. 

“Uh, thanks?” He muttered, glad he couldn’t be heard as he realized how stupid he sounded as he said it. Allura popped out of nowhere with Keith’s math teacher on her heels, decked out in full Voltron colors, face paint included. 

“Keith, have you seen Shiro?” She yelled, trying her best to be heard. Keith jerked his head toward the center of the group where Shiro was leading the Lance cheering, his face red from all the yelling he was doing. There was no way Allura was going to get in there, Keith had tried.

It was certainly a shock, however, when Allura shoved herself between two people and pushed. Eyes wide, Keith didn’t realize he was being pushed from behind until there were people pushing and shoving on either side of him as well as behind. Glancing behind himself he watched as Pidge disappeared into the crowd, the last thing he saw of them was the wink they gave him.

Turning quickly, he followed behind Allura, glad to have someone to push for him. The middle of the circle was actually much larger than Keith expected and he was glad for some breathing room. As he stepped into the jumping, screaming throng Allura bailed toward Shiro, who had split to give the rest of the team high fives. This left Keith standing on one end of the circle from Lance, staring straight into his beautiful, blue eyes. 

Lance’s mouth moved to form words but nothing came out as he pushed his way across the circle and ran right into Keith. With a thud their chests hit and Keith was just barely able to duck away from Lance’s forehead clashing against his own. They were pushed and shoved closer and further and it wasn’t until Lance grabbed Keith’s waist that they were fully still.

Keith looked into Lance’s eyes, a grin on his face. The two would tell this story as romantic and heartfelt for years, no one ever learning just how horribly awkward it had actually been. Because, instead of the sweeping, romantic kiss Lance had given Keith, the moment was a much bigger mess. 

Lance caressed the side of Keith’s face but his elbow was bumped by someone in the crowd and he almost poked Keith’s eye out with his thumb. Keith had reached up to grab the back of Lance’s neck, but instead had yanked his hair and, thus, his head. When Lance leaned forward slowly for a romantic kiss, he was bumped from behind and their teeth clacked together, causing them to recoil in pain, hands over their mouths. 

It had all ended in a fit of giggles as they gave up on the moment.

Instead they allowed the crowd to slowly die down before joining their friends and the rest of the team at McDonald’s for a celebratory dinner. After the JV game, of course.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fin! Happy, sappy ending!


End file.
